"The Global Consciousness Project, also known as the EGG Project, is an international multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists, engineers, artists and others continuously collecting data from a global network of physical random number generators located in 65 host sites worldwide. The archive contains over 10 years of random data in parallel sequences of synchronized 200-bit trials every second."
Archive for the ‘– Business… None of yours’ Category
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, April 12, 2024
Free thought association…
On the third day of the eighth month in the fifth year of our LORD Ich’bin-Ein Berliner, came the jelly doughnut, a minute triceratops of a man, swimming freely in the oceans’ waters, basking in every bubble from the aerator around which the goldfish swam, as he peered outside its cavernous steel bars into the cat lounging on the spaghetti Bolognese, seeing clearly into its heart, lungs, and digestive system, while fueling the top fuel dragster from which he was born.
🤠
I don’t have opposable thumbs.
Both my thumbs have always worked in conjunction with all my other fingers, and with each other. And, they are in harmonious union with the palms… which should in no wise be conflated with date palms, Palme d’Or, iron ore, wooden oars, Cannes, Campbell’s soup cans, Andy Warhol, or else.
—————
The food we eat (that is to say, the food proffered to us in supermarkets, brands often advertised on teevee, print, and radio, in turn owned by mega-globally-traded behemoth transnational corporations) is largely factory-processed, made nutrient-deficient, hyper-preserved, sodium-laden — for additive preservative purpose — which nether creatively increases flavor, nor improves taste, is shelf-stable practically into perpetuity, and is all done so for one motive exclusively: Profit – to get more money.
Their interests and loyalties are NOT to you, nor to their customers, neither to your family, friends, and loved ones, but rather, are beholden to their corporate shareholders upon whom they openly ingratiate themselves, and to whom they, first and foremost, through a strong sense of obligation via stock ownership or other requirement, owe a substantial share of the profit, and in some cases, the “first fruits.”
And therefore, they work to achieve, or exceed, the expectations of the financial prognosticators and market soothsayers by obeying the edicts of the corporate overlords and executives in all details of business operation. So, when employees of the company’s various stores in select locales complain about employee mistreatment, and low wages combined with decreased hours — EVEN THOUGH the company made $24.6 BILLION in PROFITS for 2023, which in turn, effectively meant that all of its 400,000 employees could have been given an $11,000 raise and STILL have at least $20 BILLION in profit. Instead, the employees must rely upon tips for survival. That company is Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, March 28, 2024
Everyone walked away from…
A Six Ranch Shootout
6 Brands, 8 Questions, 1 Answer:
Which is Best?
While taste and flavor are highly subjective terms, there are uniform, concrete facts and standards, which can be independently and casually observed by anyone.
Six Ranch Shootout
Item
Brand
Size
Cost
1
Yo Mama’s
13oz/368g
$4.48
2
Great Value
8fl oz/236mL
$1.43
3
Ken’s Steak House
16oz/473mL
$2.98
4
Wish-Bone
15fl oz/444mL
$2.67
5
Kraft
16fl oz/473mL
$2.48
6
Hidden Valley
16fl oz (1pt)/473mL
$3.98
Which brand(s):
Q1. Contained NO “artificial” ingredients, i.e., had only all-natural ingredients?
Fox News Fact-Checks Donald Trump’s Bond Claim: “Actually Not True”
By Rachel Dobkin
Published Mar 24, 2024 at 3:42 PM EDT
Updated Mar 25, 2024 at 6:21 AM EDT
During a Sunday interview with former Federal prosecutor Alex Little on Fox News Live, host Eric Shawn said, “We’ve also heard there’s a lot of talk about ‘this is unprecedented amount of money… this has never happened before.’ But that’s actually not true. This is from Letitia James, the Attorney General’s own court papers — I’m gonna show it to you right now.”
An on-screen chart graphic then appeared listing court cases with bonds at or over $1 billion, including:
• Sony Music Entertainment v. Cox Communications — $1.2 billion;
• Apple v. Samsung Electronics — $1 billion;
• Oracle USA v. SAP AG — $1.3 billion, and;
• Carnegie Mellon University v. Marvell Technology Group — $1.5 billion.
In February, New York State Supreme Court Justice Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Donald Trump to pay a $355 million bond by Monday, 25 March 2024, plus daily interest — which grand total is now $454 million — and barred him from doing business in New York for 3 years.
Trump and his crime family members have falsely claimed that the bond amount is “unprecedented.”
Obviously, it is not.
Eric Shawn, host of Fox News
In a September 2023 lawsuit brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office, Trump was found liable for financial fraud. Trump has claimed that he has done nothing wrong and that the case is politically motivated, and has appealed Judge Engoron’s ruling against him.
Trump was given until Monday to come up with a $454 million bond in order to prevent NY State Attorney General James from seizing his assets in order to pay Judge Engoron’s judgment.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the ruling and disparaged Judge Engoron and Attorney General James, on his social media platform Truth Social. In a post last Monday, Trump wrote, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 6, 2024
First, she quit the Democratic Party — just like Sarah Palin quit Alaska.
Now, she quit Arizona… and America.
Bad Little Doggie — this one’s for you, babe.
Come in with the sunrise, who knows where you go Smellin’ like something, I don’t want to know
Your sister can’t save you, she don’t know what to do Your bad behavior has finally caught up to you Bad little doggie
Soul all tweeked out, life line thin Loose little school girl, what a shape you’re in
Blue violence, red rosaries Roots of evil growing into trees I’m through messin’, time to learn your lesson Bad little doggie
I’m through messin’, time to learn your lesson Bad little doggie
Goodbye, and good riddance. Perhaps somebody on K Street will take you in. After all, that’s where politicians go after Congressional stints, isn’t it — to become lobbyists.
NOTE: The Twitter-X post linked above, which depicts an obviously-edited (cropped) ocean-going vessel sinking, was deliberately falsely identified as a British vessel in the Red Sea, and the person posting the Tweet deliberately falsely claimed that Houthis sank it.
The post read as follows: “Documentation of the British ship sinking after being hit and attacked by Yemenis earlier today.
The crew abandoned the ship before it sank Yemen 🇾🇪 💪🏼
2:25 PM · Feb 19, 2024″
That is 100% TOTALLY FALSE and ENTIRELY INCORRECT.
The vessel depicted in the Tweet is MV Stellar Banner, a very large ore carrier (VLOC), which was deliberately scuttled off the Brazilian coast three months after she ran aground, having been filled with iron ore, approximately 145,000 tons of which was successfully removed by salvors, to allow the vessel to refloat, and assess the ship’s structure, which was deemed a total loss, and therefore, a decision was made to scuttle her. The MV Stellar Banner was owned and operated by Polaris shipping of South Korea, was chartered to Vale, a Brazilian mining giant, to transport iron ore from Brazil to China. The Stellar Banner was registered in the Marshall Islands, was damaged after departing a Vale loading terminal in Maranhão, Brazil, and ran aground approximately 100km from the coast of São Luís on February 24, 2020. The vessel was carrying 306,000 tons of iron ore and headed for Qingdao, China.
We are pleased to expose the lie, and set the record straight. Ed.
Regardless of the deliberate falsity of the Twitter-X post, claiming that the dramatic sinking of the vessel Stellar Banner was a different vessel than the one WHICH WAS ATTACKED BY HOUTHIS — that one being the MV Rubymar — even though the Stellar Banner was deliberately falsely identified as a the Rubymar, the point is, that Houthis are actively engaged in piracy on the open seas, and are making attacks upon trade vessels.
THAT is why our military is intervening in the Red Sea. To aid our friends… fellow NATO member nations.
Houthis (aka Ansar Allah, meaning Partisans of God) are the terrorist cartel in Yemen funding & arming Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
To be certain, NOT all Palestinians are Hamas, but all Hamas are Palestinian.
So what’s at the bottom of it all, what’s the root cause?
Disputes over sectarian Islamic religious doctrine.
Houthis are Shia Islamists, so named for the Houthi tribe in Yemen from which they come, and are predominantly Zaidi Shias. The Houthis originated “in the 1990s as a youth-orientated revivalist movement” that sought to defend Zaidi religious traditions, which is a sect of Shia Islam.
Zaidism is one of three sects of Shia Islam, and considered the most closely resembling the Sunni.
Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic denomination.
Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic denomination, and practiced by about 85–90% of Muslims worldwide.
Differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims originated from a disagreement over who would succeed Muhammad after his death, and later Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, February 19, 2024
Fact: Most folks will not even bother to read the ruling (available from the official site here: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/decisions/trump-decision.pdf), much less download it from any site, anywhere, and will simply swallow — hook, line, and sinker — whatever the talking heads they watch/listen to tell them, and whatever their favorite blathering pundits and prognosticators write on their websites, right, center, or left.
They do themselves, and the nation, a disservice to be so blithely insincere, and casually cavalier.
So here, for your pablum-puking pleasure, are selected outtakes, copied & pasted, of the most egregiously stunning highlights from Judge Engoron’s ruling in:
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Plaintiff, vs. DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP JR., ERIC TRUMP, ALLEN WEISSELBERG, JEFFREY MCCONNEY, THE DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC., TRUMP ORGANIZATION LLC, DJT HOLDINGS LLC, DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER, TRUMP ENDEAVOR 12 LLC, 401 NORTH WABASH VENTURE LLC, TRUMP OLD POST OFFICE LLC, 40 WALL STREET LLC, SEVEN SPRINGS LLC, Defendants.
Trump Organization’s History of Corporate Malfeasance
“The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience.”
“…this Court is mindful that this action is not the first time the Trump Organization or its related entities has been found to have engaged in corpora malfeasance.”
“…the more evidence there is of defendants’ ongoing propensity to engage in fraud, the more need there is for the Court to impose stricter injunctive relief. This is not defendants’ first rodeo.”
“Defendants’ refusal to admit error—indeed, to continue it, according to the Independent Monitor—constrains this Court to conclude that they will engage in it going forward unless judicially restrained.”
“…the Trump Organization does not have the ability to operate with a functional financial reporting structure that would protect against fraud in the future. The fact that there are virtually no internal controls in place at the Trump Organization, “creates an atmosphere conducive to fraud.”
“…the Trump Organization has refused to prepare SFCs, even though various loan covenants obligate them to do so, ever since the monitor was appointed, leads the Court to conclude that the Trump Organization cannot, or will not, prepare an accurate SFC that is GAAP compliant and that values assets at their estimated current values. That the Trump Organization has taken to manufacturing its own version of its assets, one that fails to include any valuations, is a telling admission that it simply cannot, or will not, prepare an SFC without committing fraud.”
“…Donald Trump testified that, even today, he does not believe the Trump Organization needed to make any changes based on the facts that came out during this trial.”
“… “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” Defendants apparently are of a different mind. After some four years of investigation and litigation, the only error (“inadvertent,” of course) that they acknowledge is the tripling of the size of the Trump Tower Penthouse, which cannot be gainsaid.”
“…defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”
“Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.”
“In August 2013, OAG sued Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and affiliated entities doing business as “Trump University” for fraud in the marketing and operation of Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, February 18, 2024
“Above all, do not lie to yourself. A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others. Not respecting anyone, he ceases to love, and having no love, he gives himself up to the passions and coarse pleasures, in order to occupy and amuse himself, and in his vices reaches complete bestiality, and it all comes from lying continually to others and to himself.”
— excerpt from “The Brothers Karamazov,” by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), published 1879-80, his final work, considered his masterpiece, and among the world’s finest examples of literature, in which the character Zosima speaks to Fyodor Pavlovich, found in Book II, Chapter 2. Many of Zosima’s remarks in that section are foundational in developing the main ideas in the book.
Friends, let me wholeheartedly encourage you to read Judge Arthur F. Engoron’s decision in the Trump case in New York State. It’s straightforward, easy-to-understand, not filled with legal mumbo jumbo, arcane words, and often-bizarre machinations to reach a decision. (We often see that in SCOTUS cases.)
Judge Engoron writes in a concisely clear manner, lays out the case, what the charges are, why there wasn’t a jury trial (and the rules behind that, plus, neither party sought one), the rationale, the defenses used by the defendant (Trump, et al), why they fail, and so on, and so forth.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, February 16, 2024
This week, while filled with joyous victory celebrations, was marred by gun violence.
Specifically, the Kansas City Chiefs — which have now entered the rarified zone of victors with 2-consecutive Super Bowl victories (only 8 teams inclusive, have consecutive wins) — were feted with a parade in their home town when shots rang out, claiming one innocent bystander’s life, and injuring 22 others, ranging in age from 8-47 years, with authorities stating that least half those injured were under age 16.
Firearm violence is now the Number One Killer of children in America.
Authorities have arrested at least two suspects, both juveniles, who remain unnamed, are being held in juvenile facilities, and anticipate other arrests to follow in the still-ongoing investigation. The gunfire tragedy was discovered to have been related to a dispute.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Tomorrow (February 1) is the first day of Black History Month. BHM is also the 3-letter FAA designation for Birmingham, AL, sometimes also formerly known as “Bombingham.”
For those who say “there’s no such thing as ‘white chocolate,’” there really is. It just has none of the brown solids that give chocolate its characteristic appearance. Kinda’ like the absence of melanin in humans, which gives our skin, hair and eyes, color. Without it, we’d all be white as a sheet. That condition is called albinism.
And, tomorrow is also Decorating with Candy Day. That should be fun! Especially with Peppermint Patty, Tootsie Roll, Mary Jane, Hershey’s Kiss, Almond Joy, and Bit-O-Honey!
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, January 27, 2024
Donald V. Watkins, Sr., then a licensed attorney, gestures in Federal court in closing arguments representing himself in USA v. Donald Watkins, Jr., et al.
Donald V. Watkins, Sr. is a never-ending source of entertainment.
Readers will recall that Mr. Watkins, a formerly-respected attorney, was convicted by a jury of his peers on several Federal charges.
“Donald Watkins, Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy.
Donald Watkins, Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.”
“Donald Watkins Sr., 70, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Donald Watkins Jr., 47, of Birmingham, Alabama, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre of the Northern District of Alabama. Judge Bowdre also ordered Donald Watkins Sr. to serve five years of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $14,000,100.00 and ordered Donald Watkins Jr. to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution jointly with his father in the amount of $13,850,000.
“The father and son co-defendants were convicted on March 8, 2019, following a jury trial that lasted over two weeks. Donald Watkins Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy. Donald Watkins Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.
“According to evidence presented at trial, between approximately 2007 and 2013, Donald Watkins Sr. sold “economic participations” and promissory notes connected with Masada Resource Group, a company that he ran as manager and CEO. Investors paid more than $10 million dollars after Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. falsely represented that the money would be used to grow Masada, which Donald Watkins Sr. described as a “pre-revenue” company that supposedly had technology that could convert garbage into ethanol. Instead of investing the money into Masada, however, Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. diverted funds to pay personal bills and the debts of their other business ventures, the evidence showed. Victim money was used to pay for Donald Watkins Sr.’s alimony, hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, personal loan payments, a private jet and clothing purchased by Donald Watkins Jr. and his wife. Emails introduced at trial also showed that Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. planned to obtain millions of dollars for these purposes from one victim on multiple occasions, when they knew that this victim and other victims trusted them to put their money to use in growing Masada.
“Donald Watkins Sr. also was convicted of defrauding Alamerica Bank, an entity in which Donald Watkins Sr. held a controlling interest through his ownership of Alamerica Bank Corp stock, the evidence showed. In order to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation expenses associated with another one of Donald Watkins Sr.’s business ventures, Donald Watkins Sr. executed a plan to use a straw borrower to take out money from Alamerica Bank and use those funds to pay the defendant’s litigation expenses. This straw borrower—Donald Watkins Sr.’s long-time mentor and a prominent figure in the Birmingham community—took over $900,000 in loans from Alamerica Bank and then immediately permitted Donald Watkins Sr. to use those funds for his personal benefit, the evidence showed.”
To be certain, Mr. Watkins has some very respectable accomplishments, notable among them, he Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, January 27, 2024
Rethinking Electric Vehicles
This voice in the quote below, that of Toyota Motor Corporation’s Chairman of the Board, Aiko Toyoda, and the message which is the heart and central idea of the communique, is something that is rarely, if ever, given voice in the mass media. And yet, that mere fact does not make what he said any less true. If anything, it emphasizes the importance of what he says, the underlying matter, and the necessity to remedy the problem. And that problem is NOT ‘global warming’ but a failure by putting the cart before the horse, e.g., making EVs without an electrical infrastructure to support them.
.
“BEVs [battery electric vehicles] and FCEVs [fuel cell electric vehicles] come as a set with [economic] infrastructure. However, one billion people around the world live in areas without electricity. In the case of Toyota, we also supply vehicles to these regions, so Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, December 31, 2023
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced her coming abdication Sunday in a New Year’s speech from Christian IX’s Palace, Amalienborg Castle, in Copenhagen, Denmark. photo by Keld Navntoft / Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
It looks like 52 years is long enough for anybody.
Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II (b.1940), who has been the nation’s chief monarch since 1972 when she succeeded her father Frederick IX (1899-1972), is widely beloved by her compatriots, respected among her international peers, and other leaders, will turn the job over to her son and heir-apparent Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark (b.1968) on 14 January 2024, the 52nd anniversary of her accession.
CHICAGO, Dec. 5 (Reuters) — Smithfield Foods said on Tuesday, Dec. 5, it will end contracts with 26 hog farms in Utah, in the latest contraction by the world’s largest pork processor in the face of an industry oversupply.
Wan Long, RIGHT, Chairman and CEO of WH Group, formerly called Shuanghui International, shakes hands with Charles Larry Pope, President and CEO of Smithfield Foods, at a press conference of WH Group in Hong Kong, China, 14 April 2014. Two subsidiaries of Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co have gained access to the Russian market, after its parent company — WH Group Ltd, the world’s largest pork producer— acquired US pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc and bought a stake in Campofrio Food Group SA of Spain, the largest pan-European packaged meat products company, last year. The two Heilongjiang-based companies — Wangkui Shuanghui Beidahuang Food Co and Heilongjiang Baoquanling Shuanghui Food Industry Co — got the official nod after their production facilities and products were examined and assessed by officials from Russia’s meat products watchdog, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, in August, Shuanghui Development said on its website. To widen its import market for meat, the Russian government agreed to import meat products from five Chinese suppliers by the end of August, indicating the nation has taken a flexible strategy to balance the supply and demand relationship, while the US and its European allies are trying to squeeze the country’s trade space in the world market.
Pork producers have been losing money as pig prices and consumer demand for pork have struggled at a time of high costs for labor and other expenses.
Smithfield, owned by Hong Kong’s WH Group, said it will terminate employees who support its dealings with farms that raise hogs under production contracts. Layoffs may total about Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, December 1, 2023
Others Remain At Large
It’s not always illegal to lie.
Of course, that depends upon the context — the circumstance, situation, and setting in which the lie is told.
And, believe it, or not, it’s not even always totally illegal to kill another human being, because again, the context — conditions, circumstance and situation in which the death occurs — are all taken into consideration by law enforcement authorities, in determining whether, or not, charges will be filed against the responsible party. In many circles it’s called “justifiable homicide,” with one example of justifiable homicide being a scenario in which someone, or group of people, is being threatened by at least one gun-wielding assailant, one of whom is then killed by a party who was among those threatened by a gun-wielding assailant.
There are exceptions to rules. Just about all rules, in fact. For the baseball fans among us, the Infield Fly Rule is one such example of a scenario in which human judgment reigns supreme. There is no “hard and fast” with the IFR. It’s an altogether subjective matter that relies exclusively upon the umpire to call it… or not. One ump would call it one way, and another would call it another.
But there is one crime that is ALWAYS, in every circumstance, situation, and scenario 100% illegal, at ALL TIMES, in every place.
And that crime is theft.
It is 100% illegal at all times, and in all places, to steal anything, at any time, from anyone. No matter how small, no matter how “justified” the perpetrator may feel or think about their actions, it is still always 100% illegal to steal, and always has been. There are NO exceptions to theft laws. NONE.
Theft, of course, is ultimately a type of dishonesty, because most thieves won’t, or don’t, tell others of their misdeeds — particularly and especially Law Enforcement Authorities. And it is the secrecy, the deliberate cover-up, the deception, and duplicity that often accompany theft which is so infuriating to many, if not most, or, even all victims of theft, because the crime is discovered only after the fact. To know that one was betrayed by one so close is an artful deception, if it could be so described, because it is deliberate.
While most crimes may be discovered after the fact, the making of plans to commit a crime — if it is done in conjunction with another person, regardless of whether that other person is the actual “bag man,” or not — is crime of conspiracy. In fact, conspiracy is THE single most prosecuted crime by the Federal government.
That it is a criminal act to plan a crime with another speaks volumes about how important fundamental honesty is to daily life, and the great value attached to honesty by Americans.
Russia is NOT like that.
Not even one iota.
As partial evidence of that fact, consider that the Russians lied about a dog which they sacrificed in their Sputnik 2 space capsule in 1957, gave numerous lies about it over the years, and only finally came clean with the truth in 2002 — some 45 years later. see:
https://warmsouthernbreeze.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/Dying-Laika-Russian-Dog/
Russia is a fundamentally dishonest, and inherently corrupt nation, which has been corrupt since its ancient developments and into its modern foundings. Corrupt trees bear bad fruit grown from corrupt roots. Such corruption is plainly seen in modernity in abuses by Russia’s military service members by the almost-open brazen theft from the various supply stocks that are stolen and resold by those who are tasked with its distribution to their military by their government.
And that’s just one example, of many more, all of which undeniably, and unambiguously demonstrate an inherent mentality of thievery among Russia’s military. Is such activity considered criminal in Russia? Yes, it is. Such cravenly wholesale disregard for fundamental honesty by Russian military service members is but one sign of the extensively thorough rot that has infected the entirety of the Russian army. And in many cases, we’ve seen that the materials themselves are flawed, faulty, aged, and show significantly excessive signs of shop wear.
George Santos (R-NY3) is a mirror image of what commonly happens in Russia, and the ISC report Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, November 27, 2023
Pharmaceutical manufacturers were making cannabis medicines long before it was declared illegal by the United States government.
“Congress has removed hemp from schedule I and removed it entirely from the CSA (Controlled Substances Act).
“…hemp is no longer a controlled substance.
“Congress has likewise removed THC in hemp from the CSA.” This is perhaps the most significant federal recognition that THC is no longer a controlled substance.
“This is perhaps the most significant federal recognition that THC is no longer a controlled substance.”
— excerpts from a USDA bulletin by the Office of General Counsel, issued May 28, 2019, as a legal opinion, on hemp
Naturally, the $64 Question arises: Is Cannabis Now TOTALLY Legal?
Within the cannabis industry in the United States, there is discussion about the DEA’s most recent recommendation to re-schedule cannabis (as marijuana) to Schedule III from Schedule I, which some say would continue perpetuating, and possibly worsen, the can of worms that has developed surrounding cannabis, primarily as “marijuana,” while yet others say that the only reasonably rational way to effectively handle the matter of cannabis, in order to cease perpetuating the numerous problems created by its prohibition, is to fully de-schedule it, in order to tax and regulate it, in much the same way as beverage alcohol was re-legalized following its Prohibition.
Yet the DEA, as a law enforcement agency, is loathe to relinquish any control over the plant, and has thus far, refused to cede any ground to hemp farmers, and all others involved in that aspect of the greater, overall cannabis industry. However, when challenged in Federal court over their stance upon, and actions in the matter, the DEA has lost.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, November 18, 2023
ELON MUSK IS A SICK CUNT
Screenshot of statistics of a Tweet from a child pornographer’s account on X-Twitter-X
Elon Musk is a sick CUNT.
Elon Musk is a sick CUNT.
Elon Musk is a sick CUNT.
Why is Elon Muskrat a sick CUNT?
Besides the kiddie porn he allows on Twitter-X?
Yeah. Kiddie porn.
Only Elon Muskrat could take $44 BILLION and literally burn down the House of Twitter.
[SEE: Explainer: How Elon Musk Funded The $44 Billion Twitter Deal, By Hyunjoo Jin and Chibuike Oguh / Friday, October 28, 2022 8:25 AM CDT / https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/how-will-elon-musk-pay-twitter-2022-10-07/ —— Oct 28 (Reuters) – Elon Musk on Thursday closed the $44 billion deal announced in April to take Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) private and took ownership of the influential social media platform by firing top executives immediately.] —MORE—
Elon “CUNT” Muskrat’s jackassery is driving away advertisers and potential patrons like wildfire, thereby starving the business of income.
He’s fucking around and is about to find out.
He has “threatened” to file a “thermonuclear lawsuit” (whatever that is) on Monday, 20 November 2023 in response to the investigative findings published by Media Matters.
Oh yes… he’s also a joke. And a pathetic one, at that.
Here’s how it’ll all go down:
Muskrat CUNT’s for-hire mouthpieces (aka attorneys) will cry and whine to the court that the information published by Media Matters is false and scurrilous. (Hardly.) When MM shows the court the goods, the Feds (via the FBI) will step in, since X-Twitter-X is engaged in business that crosses state lines (electronically, etc.), and then, the shit will hit the ever-lovin’ fan, and Twitter will collapse/implode… from within — which it has been doing since his misguiding hand took over. And then, the folks that lent him their money to buy Twitter will sue him to get their money back and point to his violation of numerous Federal laws as proof/evidence, and he’ll lose his ass, and maybe Tesla and SpaceX, as well.
So, FUCK YOU -and- the horse you rode in on.
Buh-bye Elon CUNT Muskrat.
And good riddance.
Here’s hoping.
Elon Musk Welcomes Child Sex Abuse Imagery Poster Back to Twitter
Twitter says it has “a zero-tolerance child sexual exploitation policy.”
Musk apparently doesn’t.
July 27, 2023, 9:12AM, by David Gilbert
Elon Musk reinstated a QAnon-promoting far-right Twitter account that posted child abuse imagery, even though his company’s policy explicitly says that’s not allowed.
On Wednesday, Musk tweeted that the company would reinstate the account of the notorious far-right troll known as “Dom Lucre.” Lucre’s account was banned on Wednesday after he had posted child exploitation images four days previously.
“For now, we will delete those posts and reinstate the account,” Musk tweeted in response to another account questioning why Twitter had deleted the account.
“I’m told that this account was suspended for posting child exploitation pictures associated with the criminal conviction of an Australian man in the Philippines,” Musk tweeted.
The offending post referenced an assistant to Peter Scully, the Australian man who was sentenced last year to 129 years in prison for sexually abusing children as young as 18 months.
Along with the link to an article about the assistant, the account posted two screenshots from a video Scully created on the dark web, which Lucre said showed a “one-year-old named Daisy.” —MORE—
SEE ALSO:
Musk Pledged to Cleanse Twitter of Child Abuse Content. It’s Been Rough Going.
Child sexual abuse imagery spreads on Twitter even after the company is notified: One video drew 120,000 views. “Sewer rats,” as one regulator described bad actors, remain.
Over 120,000 views of a video showing a boy being sexually assaulted. A recommendation engine suggesting that a user follow content related to exploited children. Users continually posting abusive material, delays in taking it down when it is detected and friction with organizations that police it.
All since Elon Musk declared that “removing child exploitation is priority #1” in a tweet in late November.
Under Mr. Musk’s ownership, Twitter’s head of safety, Ella Irwin, said she had been moving rapidly to combat child sexual abuse material, which was prevalent on the site — as it is on most tech platforms — under the previous owners. “Twitter 2.0” will be different, the company promised.
But a review by The New York Times found that the imagery, commonly known as child pornography, persisted on the platform, including widely circulated material that the authorities consider the easiest to detect and eliminate.
After Mr. Musk took the reins in late October, Twitter largely eliminated or lost staff experienced with the problem and failed to prevent the spread of abusive images previously identified by the authorities, the review shows. Twitter also stopped paying for some detection software considered key to its efforts.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Let’s Cook! In Praise of the Humble, Versatile Potato.
If you read recipes, as I often do, you’re bound to have seen at least one recipe for Potato Soup.
Many, if not most, or — dare I say it? — even all recipes for Potato Soup have so MANY so-called “garnishments” that you wonder if you’re eating Potato Soup, or something else, like a puréed casserole, or some such thing.
Perhaps instead those ingredients should be called “amendments” — like soil amendments, for example, defined as being things added to change something to which they’re added… because they FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE the ENTIRE dish — flavor, texture — EVERYTHING, so that the potato becomes lost in the mix, and essentially disappears as a foundational element of the dish, making the additions to it the center-of-attention.
It’s hardly recognizable as a potato, per se, aside from the traditional, well-worn add-ons like sour cream, chives, bacon, onions, cheese, butter, pepper, parsley, milk, buttermilk, pulled pork, celery, celery seed, chicken broth, ancho chili powder, green onions, flour, and goodness knows what all else.
Even for a so-called “loaded” baked potato, that’s a whole lotta’ stuff… that COMPLETELY HIDES, COVERS UP, and MASQUERADES as a “potato.”
Make NO mistake.
It is NOT.
It’s some type of casserole, using a potato as an excuse to exist.
This recipe is NOT that.
Not by a long shot.
Not even hardly.
Look… many, perhaps even most, folks like potatoes. And to be certain, not only are there are numerous types of potatoes, they are ubiquitous globally, including Sweet — and there are numerous varieties even within that group — by some accounts, several thousands. By the way… in the language of horticulture, the proper term that describes a variation (a variety, or type) in a plant is “cultivar.”
Then, we have the Russet, Yukon Gold, Red, etc. And within the greater potato genre, per se, there are multiple thousands upon thousands, tens of thousands, even, of varieties and cultivars of potatoes globally. So, it’s not as if there are only 3, or 4 types. It’s just that “your” grocery store chain has chosen to sell those limited few types, and the farmers… well, the farmers grow ’em, god love ’em. It seems as if we’re broaching upon narrowing to monoculture… almost.
Each of those types and cultivars have their own unique characteristics, including variations in Read the rest of this entry »
“It’s probably arising from a deeper-felt feeling that society is changing too fast, and not in a direction that people appreciate — and, also these new measures that probably have to be implemented to protect the environment are also being enforced upon us for no good reasons by outside forces.”
Wouter van der Brug is Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. His research interests focus on comparative research in collective political behavior, in particular electoral behavior, right-wing populism and political parties. He published monographs, edited volumes and more than 80 scientific articles in various international journals, such as the European Journal of Political Research, the British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, West European Politics, etc.
“People in Holland have the feeling that the government’s needs are more important than the needs of the citizens. A lot of people are worried about their future. They’re worried about, ‘can my children buy a house in the coming years?’ They’re worried about all the costs that are soaring, the costs of food and gas. People can’t pay their bills anymore because everything is getting so expensive and they find in us a party that they trust.”
— Caroline van der Plas, Member of Parliament, Founder of the Farmer-Citizen Movement party, in Dutch, the BoerBurgerBeweging, and acronym, BBB
Dutch farmer Wilbert van der Post is worried that the Dutch government’s new nitrogen reduction rules will force him, a fourth-generation farmer, out of business. He plans to vote for the Farmer-Citizens Movement, known in the Netherlands by its acronym, BBB, on election day in November. – Rob Schmitz/NPR
The Netherlands is one of the world’s Top 5 greatest food exporting nations (several reliably authoritative sources place it 2nd in value and volume), and for a country with over 17 million inhabitants (over 10 million more than Maryland), and about the same square area of Maryland (which is 16,000²miles+/-), that’s a significant accomplishment. The United States, of course, leads the world in food exports, far and away eclipsing the Netherlands value and volume, by at least 3.5 times. Comparatively, New York State, with 19.6 million, and Pennsylvania with 12.9 million residents, are the 2 states whose populations are nearest the Netherlands.
The Netherlands government states that “the Dutch agricultural sector exports some € 65 billion of agricultural produce annually,” which comprises 17.5% of all Dutch exports, and fully 10% of the Dutch economy’s GDP and employment is derived from its horticultural and agricultural sector, while 25% of its exports are shipped to Germany, its greatest trade partner.
Since the 1600s the Dutch have long been known for their trading and shipping prowess, and in 2017, estimates were that the agricultural sector of the nation’s economy comprised about 1.6% of GDP, while services and industry comprised 70.2% and 17.9%, respectively. Last year (2022), Dutch food exports increased 9.4%, which was valued at over €100 billion. The year prior (2021), Germany imported the most Dutch food, valued at €26.3 billion, followed by Belgium €12.1 billion, France €8.6 billion, and the UK with €8.6 billion.
The Dutch share the Germans’ appreciation of efficiency, and increased efficiencies in agriculture have contributed significantly to increased production and profitability, with reliance upon greenhouses — one company has 24,000 acres under canopy (an area roughly 2x the size of Manhattan) — to supply enough vegetables to feed the nation, and to export, much of which is bound for Western European nations. In fact, on average, Dutch farms typically use only ½ gallon of water to grow around a pound of tomatoes, while the global average is over 28 gallons. The greenhouses use less fertilizer and significantly less water than traditional outdoor farming in soil, and can grow in an area of 1 acre what would take at least 10 acres of traditional farming to produce.
Wageningen Economic Research and Statistics Netherlands, on behalf of the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, found that in 2021, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, August 4, 2023
There’s plenty to cry about these days.
Like him, or loathe him, the former, 45th POTUS has been indicted… not once, not twice, but several times in Federal and State courts on a variety of matters, some stemming from his time as President, others before, though the most serious ones deal with national security from his actions taken as an official while in office, and attempting to stay in office knowingly using blatantly violent and dishonest means.
Not good.
That a former President could credibly be accused of a crime — any crime — is a sad state of affairs in our nation.
Approval ratings for Congress — ALL of those critters, House and Senate, in BOTH parties (why are there not many more viable party options?) — is at an all-time low.
Confidence and trust in the SCOTUS is dropping faster than a rock following their law-making actions AND discoveries that Justices Thomas and Alito for many years have been receiving numerous gifts of costly luxurious trips from wealthy partisan political donors without reporting them — as required by law — in addition to other special considerations which they’ve received, all of which are unavailable to ordinary everyday people.
And despite the several good things accomplished by the sitting POTUS with the economy —
• passage of the CHIPS Act,
• passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aka the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill,
• the lowest unemployment since 1969,
• more people employed and working than at any time in American history,
• creation of 11 million good-paying jobs,
• including 750,000 manufacturing jobs,
• $300 billion private sector domestic manufacturing investments,
• more judges confirmed to the Federal judiciary since John F. Kennedy,
• numerous approvals of large-scale offshore wind energy projects,
• the end of the COVID-19 pandemic,
• rescued a tanked economy with the American Rescue Plan,
• reopening closed schools and businesses,
• reduced inflation with the Inflation Reduction Act,
• enabling Medicare to negotiate medicines’ prices,
• reducing the price of life-saving insulin medication to $35/month,
• capping seniors’ out of pocket pharmacy expenses at $2000,
• reducing the price of gasoline on average by $1.60/gallon by releasing an historic volume from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,
• protected the rights of our military service members, their family and health,
• signed legislation reinforcing marriage rights for interracial and same-sex couples,
• enacting non-discrimination protections in health care, housing, education, and employment for marginalized minority groups,
• removed bans from military service for them, etc.,
— some folks apparently still don’t like him, particularly his age, which at 80, he’s the oldest POTUS ever, older even (not by much) than his predecessor (who is aged 77), and who is campaigning for a return to office under a growing storm cloud of criminal accusations at the Federal and State levels.
Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, aged 81, fell and obtained a head injury (concussion) a few months back, and apparently (according to numerous Congressional members and others) hasn’t fully recovered, as evidenced by his highly-public going-blank/mute episode before news cameras and observers in the Capitol building. “I was sandbagged,” he said to POTUS BIDEN of the episode when called to inquire about his welfare.
Dr. Gino, who has authored dozens of fascinating studies in the field of behavioral science — has consulted for some of the world’s most prominent and largest companies such as Goldman Sachs, and Google, and has proffered advice in respected news outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR.
However, over the past weeks, several people, including a colleague, have claimed that Dr. Gino fraudulently falsified and Read the rest of this entry »
A Texas House panel adopted 20 articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday.
The decision by the House General Investigating Committee comes a day after the panel heard from investigators who shared a long list of Paxton’s alleged illegal acts aimed at protecting a political donor.
“After a period of time for your review and reflections, I intend to call up the resolution adopting the articles of impeachment,” Chairman Andrew Murr, R-Junction, told House members Thursday evening.
It’s unclear when the full House might vote on the impeachment resolution. The final day of the legislative session is Monday.
If the House votes to impeach, the Republican attorney general would be suspended from his role pending action from the Texas Senate.
The articles of impeachment include disregard of official duty, misapplication of public resources, constitutional bribery and obstruction of justice.
The panel’s decision to move to impeach comes after four House-hired investigators revealed on Wednesday they uncovered evidence of multiple violations of the law and Paxton’s oath of office, including abuse of official capacity, misuse of official information, and retaliation and official oppression.
Many of the allegations were previously known, but Wednesday was the first time they were discussed publicly and in such detail.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, May 10, 2023
I LOATHE ALL CAPS.
ALWAYS HAVE.
ALL CAPS emerged in the teletype era, when ONLY CAPITAL LETTERS WERE ON THE MACHINES, which emerged in the early-to-mid 1800s, i.e., c.1835-1850.
That is now approaching 200 years ago — 188, to be exact. They’re a close relative to Morse code. It’s a modern-day dinosaur.
I’ve seen a few teletype machines. They’re ogres of monstrosity. My now-late father used ‘em in the Navy during the Korean War. I recollect seeing one being used in a small hometown FM radio station that broadcast in monoaural using a block format.
Yeah… THAT OLD.
By the way, the term “teletype” used to describe a teleprinter, first came from the Teletype Corporation in 1928, which trademarked the term, and as with xerography, now called photocopying, early copiers were Xerox brand, and people “xeroxed” papers, instead of making printed copies. Both terms, teletype, and xerox, became ubiquitously associated with both firm’s products, and in turn, became widely used generic descriptors.
The first station where I worked had one collecting dust in an unused corner near the rear entrance by the tube transmitter. Fortunately, the station’s owner had wisely transitioned to a dot-matrix printer for the AP news copy, using tractor-fed, acordion-folded paper.
The 2nd station where I worked used satellite dishes, and computers.
Digitization through the computer and Internet has changed EVERYTHING. LITERALLY, EVERY THING — including broadcast. On the whole, in my considered opinion, it’s been a blessing, but every rose has its thorn, as the saying goes (unless you buy ‘em from a florist, but then they have no fragrance, either), and that thorn in many cases is human behavior, which historically has almost always been problematic, somebodies wanting to get over on (take unfair advantage of) others, resistance to change, etc.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, April 13, 2023
Believe it, or else, cannabis is among the least governmentally-regulated consumer items. Over-the-counter/non-prescription medications like aspirin, beverage alcohol, and gasoline, are far more regulated.
The lack of regulation is, at least when it comes to THC, the ostensible primary reason why it’s sold and consumed… as it has been for tens of thousands of years — long before POTUS Richard Nixon came along with his “War on Drugs.”
Anecdotally, various news stories in states where it is legal, in one form, or another (medical, and/or recreational), have found that significant discrepancies exist in the reported, or claimed, concentration of THC, versus the levels found when independent analyses were performed.
Despite “seed-to-sale” tracking systems, which are typically for taxation accounting purposes, some states have seemed to have unofficially adopted a laissez-faire approach toward the sale of cannabis, meaning that while there are some laws on the books regulating cannabis, some of them largely go unenforced, except for the ones concerning taxation. Spirituous beverage is more highly monitored and taxed at the federal, state, and local levels.
A recently published, peer-reviewed scientific analysis found that, in samples obtained in three cities in the State of Colorado, the claimed, or purported levels of THC on the packaging labels were significantly inflated.
In a recent research article published in the peer-reviewed analytical scientific journal PLOS One (an Open Access, i.e., accessible without charge, science venue covering 200+ subjects published by the Public Library Of Science), 23 samples of 12 differently-named cannabis flower types from 10 dispensaries in 3 Colorado cities, found that the THC levels claimed on labels differed from 2% to 56.5% from the observed levels as tested using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) when performed by a third-party lab. Only 3 samples fell within the reported range stated on the packaging.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, April 3, 2023
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin & wife Louise Linton hold sheets of money at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, November 14, 2017 show first run of bills featuring his signature.
First healthcare, eliminate personal privacy rights, women’s healthcare, then come children, and oil.
What Next for Oil After Surprise OPEC+ Cuts? Try $100 a Barrel.
• Cartel removes more than 1 million barrels a day from market
• Analysts say the decline in oil inventories will accelerate
Before the announcement, the cartel’s own numbers suggested the group would need to pump more oil, not less, in the second half. With the International Energy Agency expecting a demand surge later this year, there’s now renewed risk of global inflation.
————— US Gasoline Prices Could Hit $4 a Gallon Thanks to Surprise OPEC+ Oil Cut
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers on Sunday announced surprise cuts totaling up to 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year, a move that could raise prices worldwide.
Higher oil prices would help fill Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coffers as his country wages war on Ukraine and force Americans and others to pay even more at the pump amid worldwide inflation.
It was also likely to further strain ties with the United States, which has called on Saudi Arabia and other allies to increase production as it tries to bring prices down and squeeze Russia’s finances.
———————
Saudi Arabia has NEVER been America’s ally or friend, and does NOT give a shit about us, what we think, need, or want.
Their OPEC oil cartel is THE SINGLE GREATEST REASON WHY America should become 100% energy independent.
American BIG OIL companies have long been in cahoots with the Saudis and other OPEC member nations, contrary to American national security interests, and the EXCLU$IVE rea$on why, is avarice, “greed gone wild,” as evidenced by rapacious Wall$treet corporate profits.
Beginning in earnest with Reagan & his administration, when he removed solar panels from atop the White House (a powerful, though largely symbolic move), Republicans have eschewed research & development of hydrogen fuel cells as abundant, clean, powerful, renewable energy sources for Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, March 6, 2023
The writing style of the majority of bodies of work (especially and particularly “news”) found online is abysmally poor, and uninformative. It’s a problem that I bitch about with seeming regularity. Doubtlessly, there are numerous contributing factors, but it is my opinion that a predominate role has been, and continues to be, played by corporate-profit-driven, Wall-$treet-controlled “media outlets,” whose exclusive concern is… MONEY.
Nothing else.
No concern for truth, no concern for veracity, for authenticity, no concern for quality, no concern for anything but MONEY.
And nowhere is that more excruciatingly shown than at Fox News, which stinking putrid pot has had the purifying and sanitizing light of day shown upon it brought by the MULTI-BILLION dollar defamation lawsuit against it by Dominion Voting Systems of Denver, CO, charging that Fox deliberately spread malicious lies about the November 2020 General Election, falsely claiming that Dominion’s voting machines were part and parcel of a giant conspiracy and fraud to alter the outcome of the election.
They were not.
And as tranche after tranche, raft after raft of documents and communications of myriad kind have shown, and continue to show, not even Fox’s lying talking heads believed the bullshit espoused by the crazies of the Party of Trump.
But more to the point.
Today’s journalists (I use that term loosely) are piss poor writers, uninformative, and more… and worse.
Here’s an example that occurs with calculable regularity.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Are they too low? Too high? Just right?
Some folks, mostly of Republican stripe, cry loud and long, complaining that personal and corporate income tax rates, and other forms of taxes, are TOO HIGH, even excessive. Yet in the mean time, many folks, aka The Common Man, feel more than just a little pinched, and stressed out not just by inflation which has affected everything from groceries to housing, but by the cost of everything in general… even before inflation took its toll.
And, at the end of the day, for many, particularly our most vulnerable — the elderly, children, the impoverished, veterans, the homeless, those without healthcare insurance, etc. — there are more bills than there is money.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, February 2, 2023
One thing you can’t hide, is when you’re crippled inside. Texas Governor Greg Abbott leaves the podium after speaking at the 11th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast May 7, 2015 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington, D.C. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)
Texas Guvnah Greg Abbot is a goddamn moron, a cruelly incompetent, and corruptly selfish son-of-a-bitch, fucking liar and idiot, whose brain is apparently as crippled as his withered, useless legs.
Cow turds have some nutrient fertilization value for soil, and when dried, can even be burned; whereas on the other hand, he has no value whatsoever.
Texans will have to burn more cow turds to keep warm, since your sorry-ass governor can’t even keep the goddamn lights turned on. But, that’s what you wanted, because you voted for more of it. So, enjoy your fill until January 19, 2027.
And be certain to thank the Electric (Un)Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), a “membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature.” They’re similarly corrupt, inept, and in the pockets of the Repugnicunt state legislature, and executive office.
Frustrated Texans Endure Winter Storm With No Power, No Heat
Thursday, 02 February 2023
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in homes without power for a second day Thursday, most of them around booming Austin, and fading hopes of a quick fix stirred grim memories of a deadly 2021 blackout after an icy winter storm across the southwestern U.S.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, February 2, 2023
repugnant — incompatible, inconsistent, hostile, distasteful, contradictory, abhorrent, obnoxious, odious; originates directly from the Latin term repugnantem (nominative case repugnans), present participle of repugnare, meaning “to resist, fight back, oppose; disagree, be incompatible.”
early 15c., repugnaunt, “hostile, opposed; contrary, inconsistent, contradictory,” from Old French repugnant “contradictory, opposing” or directly from Latin repugnantem (nominative repugnans), present participle of repugnare “to resist, fight back, oppose; disagree, be incompatible,” from re- “back, against, in opposition” (see re-) + pugnare “to fight” (from PIE root *peuk- “to prick”).
The meaning “distasteful, objectionable” is from 1777; that of “offensive, loathsome, exciting aversion” is by 1879.
“female intercrural foramen,” or, as some 18c. writers refer to it, “the monosyllable,” Middle English cunte “female genitalia,” by early 14c. (in Hendyng’s “Proverbs” — ʒeve þi cunte to cunni[n]g, And crave affetir wedding), akin to Old Norse kunta, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, and Middle Low German kunte, from Proto-Germanic *kunton, which is of uncertain origin. Some suggest a link with Latin cuneus “wedge” (which is of unknown origin), others to PIE root *geu- “hollow place,” still others to PIE root *gwen- “woman.”
The form is similar to Latin cunnus “female pudenda” (also, vulgarly, “a woman”), which is likewise of disputed origin, perhaps literally “gash, slit” (from PIE *sker- “to cut”) or “sheath” (Watkins, from PIE *(s)keu- “to conceal, hide”). De Vaan rejects this, however, and traces it to “a root *kut-meaning ‘bag’, ‘scrotum’, and metaphorically also ‘female pudenda,’ ” source also of Greek kysthos “vagina; buttocks; pouch, small bag” (but Beekes suspects this is a Pre-Greek word), Lithuanian kutys “(money) bag,” Old High German hodo “testicles.”
Hec vulva: a cunt. Hic cunnus: idem est. [from Londesborough Illustrated Nominale, c. 1500, in “Anglo-Saxon and Old English Vocabularies,” eds. Wright and Wülcker, vol. 1, 1884]
First known reference in English apparently is in a compound, Oxford street name Gropecuntlane cited from c. 1230 (and attested through late 14c.) in “Place-Names of Oxfordshire” (Gelling & Stenton, 1953), presumably a haunt of prostitutes. Used in medical writing c. 1400, but avoided in public speech since 15c.; considered obscene since 17c.
in Middle English also conte, counte, and sometimes queinte, queynte (for this, see Q). Chaucer used quaint and queynte in “Canterbury Tales” (late 14c.), and Andrew Marvell might be punning on quaint in “To His Coy Mistress” (1650).
“What eyleth yow to grucche thus and grone? Is it for ye wolde haue my queynte allone?” [Wife of Bath’s Tale]
Under “MONOSYLLABLE” Farmer lists 552 synonyms from English slang and literature before launching into another 5 pages of them in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. [A sampling: Botany Bay, chum, coffee-shop, cookie, End of the Sentimental Journey, fancy bit, Fumbler’s Hall, funniment, goatmilker, heaven, hell, Itching Jenny, jelly-bag, Low Countries, nature’s tufted treasure, penwiper, prick-skinner, seminary, tickle-toby, undeniable, wonderful lamp, and aphrodisaical tennis court, and, in a separate listing, Naggie.] Dutch cognate de kont means “a bottom, an arse,” but Dutch also has attractive poetic slang ways of expressing this part, such as liefdesgrot, literally “cave of love,” and vleesroos “rose of flesh.”
Alternative form cunny is attested from c. 1720 but is certainly much earlier and forced a change in the pronunciation of coney (q.v.), but it was good for a pun while coney was still the common word for “rabbit”: “A pox upon your Christian cockatrices! They cry, like poulterers’ wives, ‘No money, no coney.’ ” [Philip Massinger: “The Virgin-Martyr,” Act I, Scene 1, 1622]
And, given the opportunity, Repugnicunts would ruin the U.S. economy.
Even now, in the opening days of the 118th Congress, there’s talk among Repugnicunts of eliminating the Federal Income Tax, along with all other forms of Federal tax, and replace it with a 30% Value Added Tax.
If you think inflation is a bugbear now, just add 30% to it, and see what it’s like. Repugnicunts are such morons.
The reason why, is because that’s what they want to do:
TEAR IT ALL DOWN.
Not repair, not rebuild, not reinforce, not improve efficiency… but TEAR IT DOWN — and hope for the best, then sell off to the highest corporate bidder the skeletal remains.
For example, NOT A SINGLE REPUGNICUNT in the House or Senate voted for Pandemic Economic Relief.
Had the American people not had that money, our economy would have melted down, and suffered a depression even worse than the Great Depression.
But, it didn’t.
In fact, it didn’t even have a recession.
Not even.
So, when the Repugnicunts cry and whine about national debt, not only are they TOTALLY missing the boat, they’re missing the BIG PICTURE.
And here’s the odd thing about it:
They want to cut spending, but don’t want to pay for it — they do NOT want PayGo, or pay-as-you-go. And if they had their way, they’d let America default on its “loans.”
But, there’s an even BIGGER picture that few, if any, ever talk about, and certainly, most probably don’t even understand it. This entry will try to correct that.
“…the U.S. government’s ability to borrow.”
U.S. To Max Out On Debt Soon, Setting Up Political Fight
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is on track to max out on its $31.4 trillion borrowing authority as soon as this month, starting the clock on Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, January 9, 2023
Representative Jim Jordan-R,OH4
Have you recently read any crap on Twitter?
It’s much too easy to read plenty of phony baloney malarkey on Twitter.
Of course, that’s not very difficult to do now that Elon Muskrat is actively burning down that house, and welcoming Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, Big Lie promoters, QAnon conspiracy theorists, and other such ilk on board… again.
Here’s but one statement which I recently read on that social media dumpster fire:
“Incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has not authored, sponsored, nor passed one piece of legislation in his 17 years in Congress.”
Of course, there were other surrounding contextual words and remarks, some of which were opinion, others fact (sounds vaguely familiar, eh?), and it was quite obvious that the author had no love lost for Ohio’s 4th Congressional District Republican Representative.
And frankly, neither have I lost any love for that lunatic.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, January 4, 2023
Mitt Romney’s remark made at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines in 2011, that ‟Corporations are people, my friend,” was then, and remains even now, painfully accurate.
His explanation, however was an abysmal failure, and came nowhere close to explaining why ‟Corporations are people, my friend.”
Essentially, ‟Corporations are people, my friend,〞because their articles of incorporation state something to the effect that they can “… to wit, to do any thing a natural person could do…” That is known as “artificial personhood.”
Cornell University writes the following about artificial personhood, which may sometimes also be referred to as legal personhood, though the two are not always interchangeable — a Natural Person is also always Legal Person, but a Legal Person is not always a Natural Person — which is why there is a differentiation made with Natural Person, and the term “Artificial Person” is much more simple, and descriptive:
“An artificial person is also known as a juridical person; it has a legal name and has certain rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and liabilities in law, similar to those of a natural person. In other words, an artificial person is a non-human legal entity that is not a single natural person but an organization recognized by law as a fictitious person. In the United States, an artificial person usually refers to “any entities established under the law of the United States, any foreign country, or a state, province, territory, possession, commonwealth, or dependency of the United States or any foreign country, and as to which the government, state, province, territory, possession, commonwealth or dependency must maintain a record showing the entity to have been established.” Specifically, in a business sense, an artificial person is any form of business association and any other non-governmental legal organization, including a profitable or non-profitable corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, trust, or unincorporated organization.”
The United States Supreme Court has reinforced that sense of personhood by and through their decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission which was issued January 2010, which supported the notion of artificial personhood, and granted additional rights to corporations, but few, if any, of the responsibilities.
Some rightfully call it the “money is free speech” ruling, and the primary problem with such a belief, ruling, or ideology, is that, if it is true that money is free speech (it is not), then the poor man has none, and the Constitution was written for all, equally, and so, in that sense, at the very least, the ruling violates the Equal Protection Clause, and the First Amendment.
Holding: Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections. While corporations or unions may not give money directly to campaigns, they may seek to persuade the voting public through other means, including ads, especially where these ads were not broadcast.
Judgment: Reversed, 5-4, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy on January 21, 2010. in a 5-4 decision with an opinion written by Justice Kennedy. Justice Stevens dissented, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor.
There are other cases, of course, and this one didn’t just suddenly appear out of nowhere. There were other precedents which prepared the way for it, among which were:
But, to be absolutely certain, the problem can be traced back even further, to the Civil War era, when before that time, corporations were held to account by focusing upon the Chief Executive who was responsible, and accountable for all aspects of operations, and any failures fell squarely on their shoulders alone. Power and responsibility were natural complements of each other. After changes in laws were made, power and responsibility were separated, and power was concentrated at the top, but responsibility was diffused throughout the organization, so that no one person could be held to account — all the power, and all the perks that came along for the ride, but all the responsibilities were left at the train station.
That all came to a metaphorical head with the collapse of Enron, a once-high-flying Ponzi scheme bankruptcy of an energy company based in Houston, Texas which was founded and headed by the now-late Ken Lay (1942-2005). That firm’s collapse and subsequent bankruptcy was one of the largest instances of corporate fraud then to have occurred in America, and illustrated how the divorcement of power from responsibility was a formula for disaster. Healthsouth, another firm caught up in such a scheme, in which “cooking the books,” i.e., purposely, deceptively, and fraudulently making falsified entries in the firm’s accounting, most often for the purpose of driving up (artificially inflating) the company’s stock prices, which in turn benefited the executives, primarily, but others who may, or may not, have been somewhat privy to the acts… which, at that time, were not in and of themselves illegal, per se, though they were most certainly frowned upon by reputable accounting firms, Wall Street, and others.
Congress put a screeching halt to such abuses by writing legislation requiring the CEO to personally sign for the authenticity and accuracy of all corporate accounting and reports. And that was just a scratch up upon the surface of corporate greed and corruption, which remains prevalent today, more so now in the form of avarice (greed gone wild), than anything else.
Corporate avarice is also the single greatest problem in our nation’s economy, with one very minor example being the difference between the CEO’s pay, and their average employee’s pay — who, on average, made over 350 times the average employee’s pay. In 1989, the average differential was 61 to 1.
In fact, research performed by the Economic Policy Institute found that from 1978 to 2020, increases in CEO compensation far outstripped growth of either the Standard & Poor’s stock market index – 817%, exceeded by 6 times the increases in top income earners’ gains, and grew, on average, 1322%.
Meanwhile, in that same period, the typical employee’s annual compensation only grew a paltry 18%.
When it comes to Wall Street and BIG BUSINESS, it’s more for them, less for you.
‟Corporations are people, my friend.〞
by Mark LeVine, Director of the Program in Global Middle East Studies at UC Irvine
12 August 2011
Mitt Romney’s friendliness to corporations excuses them from bearing the responsibilities endowed upon them by the rights they are given as ‘persons’ under US law [AFP]
Thank God for Mitt Romney.
In a moment of candour he likely thought would win him much needed support from the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, the presidential candidate explained his thinking to a heckler – who asked why Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, December 27, 2022
If you enjoy your electrical power from TVA, and all the other associated benefits that have come along for that ride, such as regional economic development, improved health, care & quality of life, etc., you can thank a Republican.
That man would be Nebraska Republican U.S. Senator George W. Norris (1861-1944), who served 5 terms in the House (10 years), and 5 terms in the Senate (30 years), the last term of which he became an Independent, and was defeated for re-election in 1942.
George W. Norris as a newly elected U.S. Senator, 1912.
Senator Norris was also a member of a somewhat contrarian group in the House of Representatives that, in 1910, brought reform to its practices, by reducing the autocratic control which the Speaker of the House then had.
He also authored the 20th Amendment, which abolished so-called “lame duck” Congressional sessions, fought for presidential primaries, and direct election of Senators.
He also saved TVA from being sold — more accurately, prevented Wilson Dam in the Muscle Shoals area of Northwest Alabama from being sold — to one of the wealthiest industrialists of his era, which POTUSes Coolidge and Hoover (especially), both GOPers, wanted to sell to private enterprise, bidding in which Alabama Power (part of Atlanta, GA HQ’d Southern Company) was a strong contender.
That man was Henry Ford.
In the May 22, 1920 edition of The Dearborn Independent, a Henry Ford publication also known as The Ford International Weekly, Henry authored a front-page article entitled “The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem” that was later translated into several languages and distributed widely.
Interestingly enough, Henry Ford was a rabid anti-Semite Nazi sympathizer, of whom Adolph Hitler spoke fondly in a March 1923 interview with the Chicago Tribune, who said, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Do you ever watch Saturday Night Live?
If not, don’t worry. Not many people do… any more.
Like millions of other Americans, I do NOT watch it, and rather, see but snippets of it online every now and then, and occasionally see it mentioned in various news items here, there, and yon.
The reason I ask, is because a thought occurred to me, which is that, even though it’s circling the proverbial drain, it is salvageable.
In fact, in this now seemingly not-so funny time, it could quite possibly rise beyond its highest ratings period, which was its heyday, and perhaps even surpass it. But, the writers now ALL need to be fired. Why? They’re… Just. Not. Funny.
The track the show’s been on is eventually going to land it in the graveyard, and that’s not where longtime producer Lorne Michaels would like it to end up. But, at this point, it seems all but certain. The post mortem would read: Died for lack of humor caused by bad writing.
More to the point, as I pondered the matter, a thought occurred to me:
I do not ever recall having seen any skits or jokes about,
or references to, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
People are wearing their goddamn feelings on their sleeves, waiting for ANY opportunity to pronounce their faux dismay and disgust at some inane remark made by anyone about anything for any reason.
The chancellor referred to a portion of the commencement speaker’s remarks which may be found beginning around the :52 mark, which in context, was his statement of a silly little game he played with his grandchildren, in which he used gibberish as a concocted foreign language — and indeed, demonstrated the same numerous times throughout his address, speaking to his family, who were in attendance on the front row, and to the greater audience.
Commencement speaker: James E. “Jack” Dedelow, WJOB Radio and Founder, JEDTV
“I wanna’ first thank my family that gets to sit in the front row here, and I’ll just mention them, because when you give a speech, you gotta’ always do that, and sometimes you forget.
My wife Alexis — gave the commencement four years ago, my daughter Jackie and Tommy… my dad who went here in the late ’50s.
My son Steve, my granddaughter Lois is there.
Genie Viegal… yes, there she is.
We have a special thing, I’m supposed to play this straight, but ah… I have a thing on the air, if you ever listen.
I sometimes just roll off into a made up language, and I’ve taught it to my granddaughter, so if she starts crying, or this baby over here [gestures to his RIGHT] starts crying, I have something for them. It’s the ishgamaloofka language, and hopefully I don’t have to use it.
[continues remarks… looks to his LEFT — interrupts his remarks 58:53 with gibberish, gestures with LEFT hand as exclaiming]
Adama noris mo adis mor nisti!
[asks his family w grandchild]
Is the kid gonna’ stop? See? Did you see that? Just try that!
[points with LEFT index finger to grandchild]
Just go in the shower and make up a fake language and use it on your kids. It works great.
[continues remarks, turns to LEFT and addresses his father]
My dad here, in 1959, 1960 — he’s right here. He looks… well, ah… I can say this:
[points with LEFT finger, breaks out in gibberish exclaiming]
Hadama mañyerist nor amnisti! See? Did you see that? My dad here played basketball and baseball at PNW. And he still does it today at the age of 83.
[remarks continue, and he again utters gibberish]
[upon conclusion of his remarks, he seats himself, chancellor returns to podium]
Well.. all I can say is ‘homja yayiyom, [turns to commencement speaker] bye arr. That’s my Asian version of his… his ah…
Here’s the odd, even perverse thing about NPR’s reporting on that particular story — and it speaks, in my opinion — about fundamental hypocrisy.
But, there’s an even greater, even grotesquely bitter irony, one that many may have overlooked, including the author of the article — who, in that piece, injected her opinion — a CARDINAL sin in reporting. It was, in fact, an article wholly written about HER OPINION of one minuscule, picayune, so infinitesimally minute, and inconsequential thing, that, had it not been for the HEADLINE BLASTING HER OPINION, few, if any, would have read it.
Salacious garbage sells. In broadcast lingo, viewership and audience is colloquially termed “eyes on the set.” And today, in the online Internet realm, it’s called “clickbait.”
What’s saddening, is that the author most definitely has an impressive professional journalistic resume, and a first-class education, having “graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, where she was a fully funded Roy H. Park Fellow,” as her brief biography on NPR reads. So, she most DEFINITELY knows better.
Naturally, there’ll always be people who are looking for something negative to write about, and this was no exception. The university’s Associate Vice Chancellor, Kris Falzone, spoke with the Chronicle of Higher Education and said that media outlets had blown out of proportion the Chancellor’s brief utterance by saying that, “Chancellor Keon was reacting to something that the speaker had said, and it was taken out of context.”
The United States Census Bureau states that Indiana’s demographic profile consists of 3.7% AAPI individuals who are broken down into subgroups as follows:
American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent 0.4%
Asian alone, percent 2.7%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent 0.1%
So, a 2.7% student body population, and a 3.7% state population are statistically insignificant, insofar as there’s only 1% difference between the two figures. But, if one genuinely wants to split hairs, that’s a 31.25% difference between the two figures. But again, as a reflection of that segment of the state’s demographics, it’s insignificant — de minimis.
If the NPR article’s author, Giulia Heyward, had bothered to watch the entire video (I do not know if she did, or did not), she would have heard Mr. Dedelow explain the reason why he does what he does — having given up a lucrative job and seats on the Chicago Board of Trade, to buy a radio station, change his cell phone number, and begin a new career path. His remarks in full, in that context, begin at the 1:04:54 mark:
“This is the part where I tell you guys something meaningful. And I’m 60 years old, I lived in a commune, I traded at the Board of Trade for 18 years. I’ve been on the radio and built a media network. And I’ve lived a life, quite frankly, of debauchery at just about all of those levels.
But I do wanna’ tell you why I sit there every day.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, December 2, 2022
Appearing on Alex Jones’ “InfoWars” program, Kanye West recently said,
“I see good things about Hitler. Jewish people are not going to tell me: ‘You can’t say out loud that this person ever [sic] did anything good.’ I’m done with that. I like Hitler. The Jewish media has made us feel like Nazis and Hitler, [and] have never offered us anything of value to the world.”
Kanye is widely known as a mentally disturbed multi-millionaire Black male entertainer whose fortune came in large part from sales of athletic footwear following modest recording successes, and now prefers to be called “Ye,” who continues supporting degenerate racist Republican madman and chronically habitual liar, the chiseler-swindler-thief, former POTUS and election-denier-in-chief, Donald Trump.
Kanye has increasingly and very publicly exhibited bizarrely erratic behavior on full display through various online social media accounts, in other public venues and ways, in 2016 and 2019 was hospitalized because of psychiatric emergency, and in 2016 was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about which he has publicly spoken, though he denied it in a public White House Oval Office meeting with the 45th President in October 2018 claiming that he was merely “sleep deprived,” yet months earlier claimed bipolar disorder was “my superpower” and on his June 2018 album cover of “Ye,” scrawled “I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome.”
His deteriorated mental health condition is painfully obvious to even the most casual of observers, and with the 2010 production of an album named “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” in conjunction with his on-again-off-again denial of the reality of his disease, refusal to treat his disease with medications, in combination with a very public divorce involving four children, his life has become an unsightly public disgrace at best, and a laughingstock and open mockery at worse.
“InfoWars” is a moronic madhouse media show of radicalized right-wing extremist conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who, despite multi-billion dollar civil judgements against him for deliberately promoting lies, continues producing his show, and has most recently filed bankruptcy in Texas following the civil judgments against him.
Alex foists numerous mind-boggling insane rants, including most notably and tragically, that the 2012 mindless mass murder massacre of 20 6-and-7 year old children, 7 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut — and his mother in her home — was a “false flag” staged stunt, a hoax performed by actors perpetrated by the Federal government in an attempt to outlaw assault weapons. Alex Jones’ lies in turn caused his followers to harass the grieving parents & siblings, including an FBI agent who had responded to the scene. The 20-year-old perpetrator Adam Lanza committed suicide on site using the AR-15 style rifle fitted with several 30 round magazines which he used to kill the children, teachers, and his mother.
Alex Jones, Donald Trump, and Kanye West… those 3 men alone are IRREFUTABLE PROOF POSITIVE that America is much, much, much more gravely mentally ill than previously imagined, that the depths of depravity which they represent are but a mere scratch on the surface, the veritable tip of the proverbial iceberg, perhaps much like the one which sank the allegedly “unsinkable” luxury cruise ship “Titanic,” again, which ironically occurred after striking an iceberg on its 1912 maiden voyage.
But we could add a 4th: Herschel Walker, another man with a well-known mentally-disordered psychiatric disorder who is equally well known for his chronically habitual lying, spousal/partner abuse, and wholesale denial that anything is wrong with him.
Having been manipulated into becoming a candidate for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat under the Republican banner by the former 45th President, Hershel Walker appears to have violated Georgia election law by claiming to be a Georgia Resident and voting in the state’s Republican primary and the Georgia November 2022 General Election, while simultaneously taking a homestead tax deduction in Texas, though “the place where he stays” is his wife’s house in Georgia.
Herschel Walker is an equally VERY SICK, SICKman, who is also a known chronic pathological liar, spousal abuser, philanderer, manipulator and all-around psychopath… much like the 45th POTUS.
BUT!
Do you know what MUCH, MUCH — even EXCEEDINGLY — worse?
A people who either cannot see, or refuse to see, the depths of Herschel Walker’s depravity and utter lack of character qualities befitting such an office, which on their face are innately inherent moral disqualifications, or either are so blindly stuck on the GOP that they’d vote for a warm piece of shit, instead of anyone else, just because it’s under the Republican banner.
Yet those sick men’s cult members cannot themselves be blamed for perpetrating and promulgating such mass evil. Their enablers are Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, November 28, 2022
Apple Could Lose Six Million iPhones Taipei Times
Tuesday, November 29, 2022, page 12
FACTORY TUMULT: Departure of new workers will negatively affect production much less than official governmental quarantines imposed on existing employees, said a worker at China’s ‘iPhone city.’
Turmoil at Apple Inc’s key manufacturing hub in Zhengzhou is likely to result in a production shortfall of almost 6 million iPhone Pro units this year, said a person familiar with assembly operations.
iPhone 14 Pro Max
The situation at the plant remains fluid and an estimate of lost production could change, said a person who requested anonymity to discuss private information.
Much depends on how quickly Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the Taiwanese company that operates the facility, can get people back to assembly lines after violent protests against COVID-19 restrictions. If lockdowns continue in the weeks ahead, production could be further reduced.
The Zhengzhou campus has been wracked by lockdowns and worker unrest for weeks after COVID-19 infections left Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), and the local government struggling to contain the outbreak.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, November 27, 2022
Apple charges between US$799 for a basic iPhone 14, to US$1599 for a top-of-the-line iPhone 14 Pro Max model.
That’s how much you’ll pay without carrier subsidies, which are typically tied to a service contract, but…
How much does Apple pay for it?
How much does it cost them to make it?
Japanese business newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, a Tokyo-based mobile communications equipment analysis firm, collaborated to investigate and issued a report of their findings which were based upon disassembly of three models of the iPhone 14 series, and an estimated cost analysis of the hardware components.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nihon sometimes also spelled Nippon), translated as “Japanese Economic Newspaper,” is Japan’s most widely respected daily business-oriented newspaper, with a total morning and evening circulation of 3.7 million.
iPhone 14 Pro Max
The report found that the total parts cost of Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max, their top-of-the-line model, costs about 20% more than last year’s iPhone 13. The iPhone 14 Pro series has few new features, and is powered by Apple’s A16 processor, which continues the company’s strategy of producing ultra-high performance products, yet prices in the US and elsewhere remain the same, thus ostensibly constricting, or compressing, profitability.
Since its 2018 introduction, iPhone’s flagship “Max” model has cost an extra US$400 to US$450.
Based upon their analysis, Fomalhaut estimated that the total parts price for the iPhone 14 Pro Max is approximately US$501, which is slightly US$60 more than last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max model.
The cost increase in the iPhone 14 Pro series is primarily because of Apple’s “A16 Bionic” chip, which uses a state-of-the-art 4nm (nanometer) production process, currently only available from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), and Samsung Electronics.
Moves Protect Intellectual Property
Headquartered in Taiwan, TSMC is the world’s largest contract chip maker, a major Apple supplier, and is constructing a US$12 billion plant in Arizona near Phoenix. Governor Doug Ducey had initially visited Taiwan in 2017, and again in August 2020 for a 3-day trip, at which time TSMC announced their intention to build a $12B chip foundry in Arizona that year, and shortly thereafter began seeking subsidies. At the time of the announcement, TSMC speculated that construction would begin in 2024.
However, in August 2022, Governor Ducey made a brief construction progress report about TSMC’s Arizona facility, and recollecting his previously visits, stated in part that, “Just over two years later TSMC has completed construction for its main facility and continues to make excellent progress. Along with TSMC’s historic investment, roughly two dozen Taiwanese-based suppliers are finding Arizona is right for investment.”
TSMC broke ground on the project March 2021 and had a ceremonial “topping” celebration, a construction industry term meaning installation of the last beam, with 4000 attendees in July 2022. The property literally went from 1100 acres of tumbleweeds to factory shells in under six months.
But not only is the construction of TSMC’s Arizona facility a win-win for the United States, it also represents a prospective national security matter, because there have been rumblings that the Communist Chinese government could seize the Taiwanese facility.
Speaking in May 2022 at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing, Chen Wenling, Chief Economist at the Communist Chinese government-run China Center for International Economic Exchanges told attendees that, “If the US and the West impose destructive sanctions on China like sanctions against Russia, we must recover Taiwan.”
Her remarks were alarming, and appeared to encourage Chinese military assault, and she warned the attendees that Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, November 26, 2022
In what is rapidly becoming an International Public Relations, Marketing and Sales nightmare for Apple Computer — the world’s largest and wealthiest corporation, with a market capitalization value of at least US$2.356 Trillion — Chinese citizens in Zhengzhou, China, known colloquially as “iPhone City” for its massive manufacturing facilities owned by Foxconn, which are contracted with Apple Computer, of Cupertino, California, to manufacture the iPhone 14, and other Apple-branded consumer computer hardware — have gone on strike after having been brutally beaten by Communist Chinese police over a reneged promise made to prospective and new employees by Foxconn for their pay.
The iPhone 14, Apple’s latest and greatest model, which retails from US$799 to $1,599.00 for a top-of-the-line iPhone 14 Pro Max model, is now “behind the power curve” on holiday sales leading up to, and immediately after “Black Friday,” when many American customers nationwide reported an inability to find the product in stores, or online. The phrase is an aviation-related one, which colloquially means to be in a situation in which circumstances are beyond a locus of control, and any extra effort to play “catch up” only gets worse with each successive attempt.
“Black Friday,” of course, refers to the day immediately after Thanksgiving (which always occurs on a Thursday) in which retailers experience their greatest sales, which for many, if not the exceeding majority, accounts for a significant portion of their annual profitability, and places them “in the black,” rather than being in an indebted, or profitless condition, which is referred to as being “in the red.”
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, official portrait
The events in China’s “iPhone City” couldn’t have come at a worse time for Apple.
Matters are further complicated by the Communist Chinese government’s mandatory “shutdowns” of all public business operations, and public intercourse.
Again, ALL of this is completely outside Apple Computer’s locus of control. Yet, there are some thing that Tim Cook could do to minimize, or ameliorate, any damages, now, and in the future.
Naturally, the problem is not limited exclusively to Apple Computer, and rather, is the initialization of an avalanche-like, cascading chain of events which will reduce Apple’s profitability, as well as that of retailers nationwide.
Beyond that, it further reemphasizes what has been continually been an increasing point of contention in the United States, which is the “outsourcing’ of American manufacturing jobs — the most notable of which is China — to nations where there are little-to-no labor laws, practically non-existent workplace safety laws or regulations, and certainly no wage standards, and neither minimum wage laws, nor collective-bargaining labor unions to represent the employees’ interests.
In short, it is the moral equivalent of — and for all practical purposes is — slave labor, because the employees in factories in China, overseas, and in other developing nations, have no rights, nor opportunity for redress of grievances against their employer as in the United States. It is capitalism run amok. And the worst part of it all, is that it originates from within the United States.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, November 18, 2022
There’s been a significant amount of handwringing over remarks made by so-called “free speech” advocates who assert that anyone can say anything online “because it’s ‘free’ speech,” and ostensibly protected by the First Amendment.
I demur.
Facebook, Instagram (owned by FB), and Twitter, which are the “Big Three” online Social Media (SoMe) corporate megaliths (that is, if Twitter survives Elon Musk, if not, then TikTok may take Twitter’s place), have increasingly come under fire in the past several years — justifiably so — for turning a blind eye to bad behavior, “speech” in particular (as writing and/or video, both mediums posted on the services), thereby, in essence, becoming purveyors of lies, complicit by their inactions, in aiding and abetting actions of bad actors, consequently harming our nation — a significant portion of which continues originating in nations hostile to American national interests.
“Russian Information Warfare content on social media attempts to subvert Western democracies in five ways:
1.) Undermine public confidence in democratic government;
2.) Exacerbate internal political divisions;
3.) Erode trust in government;
4.) Push the Russian agenda in foreign populations, and;
5.) Create confusion and distrust by blurring fact and fiction.
Russian propaganda on social media can be divided into four themes:
1.) Political messages intended to foster distrust in government (e.g. allegations of voter fraud, corruption); 2.) Financial propaganda (i.e. create distrust in Western financial institutions); 3.) Social issues (e.g. ethnic tensions, police brutality), and; 4.) Doomsday-style conspiracy theories.
“Information warfare content is generated and disseminated through channels that fall into three attribution categories:
1.) White (overt); 2.) Grey (less-overt), and; 3.) Black (covert) channels.
They propagate a blend of authentic, manipulated, and fake stories and they feed off of and reinforce each other.”
“Russia views cyber very differently than its western counterparts, from the way Russian theorists define cyberwarfare to how the Kremlin employs its cyber capabilities.” Part of that difference is that the Russians “conceptualize cyber operations within the broader framework of information warfare, a holistic concept that includes computer network operations, electronic warfare, psychological operations, and information operations.”
And as part of their overall operations in that realm, not only does Russia “employ cyber as a conventional force enabler,” they integrate cybercriminals, hacktivists, and other nefariously malign non-state actors into their overall operations scheme, a practice also undertaken by “China, Iran, North Korea, and other cyber adversaries.”
That information is further borne out by the writings of Professor Dr. Mark Galeotti, PhD, who in June 2022 was recently banned from travel to Russia, wrote an OpEd in the independent news journal The Moscow Times, published December 22, 2017, that, “It is hard to sustain a serious claim that NATO tanks are about to surge eastwards – though some of the Kremlin’s more fanciful propagandists do try – but the virtues of the “secret battlefield” of intelligence work is that it is precisely covert.”
Dr. Galeotti is an internationally-recognized expert in security politics, intelligence services and criminality of modern Russia, is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow of the Institute of International Relations Prague, an Associate Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, Honorary Professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Honorary Professor at University College London, and Executive Director and principal in Mayak Intelligence, a London-based consultancy specializing in, and primarily focusing upon understanding organized and transnational crime, war, politics and history in Russia. Dr. Galieotti is also a contributing member of the Network of Experts of the independent civil-society organization Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
The root cause of such problems, wrote David J. Smith in “How Russia Harnesses Cyber Warfare,” published in Defense Dossier, American Foreign Policy Council (August 2012: Issue 4), 9,” is inherently based in, and the natural outcome of, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Why is Herschel Walker surprised?
Seriously…WHY?
The GOP (Grand Old Party, a Republican moniker which emerged c.1854) is no more, and is not even a mere shadow of its former self. It is LITERALLY the FGOP — Formerly Grand Old Party, or OGOP, Once Grand Old Party.
Today, it’s the POT (Party Of Trump) — a natural-born liar, swindler, cheater, chiseler, defrauder, narcissistic, racist, xenophobic, duplicitous, unpatriotic, treasonously treacherous traitor who will LITERALLY DO ANYTHING to get what he wants, everyone and everything else be damned — and his servile sycophantic boot-licking, pablum-puking puerile punks.
They’re ALL ass-kissers — as POS45 (Piece Of Shit 45) described his subservient anointed Ohio Senate candidate J.D.Vance while campaigning with him September 17, 2022 saying, “J.D. is kissing my ass he wants my support so bad“ — and mendaciously monolithic morons.
The last genuine Republican may have very well been the now-late Arizona Senator John McCain who so despised POS45 that, while in his last days on Earth, still in office and dying from glioblastoma, a brain cancer that typically kills its victims within 16 months +/-, that he gave specific orders FORBIDDING PO45 from attending his funeral.
So, for Herschel Walker, that poor fool-as-a-tool used by POS45 and the OGOP — a Black man, at that — it’s just another example of how the worthless scum who fly that elephantine banner treat Americans.
The “I love the poorly-educated” voters who cast their ballots for anything with the letter “R” beside their name (which instead ought to be a “T”), are unthinking “Concrete Block Republicans” who would literally vote for a concrete block instead of anyone in any other party, demonstrating that they’re vacuous prattling imbeciles who neither think, nor attempt to think, and very much vote for anything that flies that modern political jolly roger.
Moreover, it’s ABUNDANTLY CLEAR that PO45 will be VERY MUCH trying to buy his way back into the White House, and continues demonstrating his deliberately deceptive, swindling, chiseling, cheating ways.
It’s just pure putrid MAGA effluvium on the Trump Dump garbage scow.
Herschel Walker’s campaign to Republicans:
Stop〝deceptive fundraising〞in Georgia U.S. Senate runoff
Republican politicians and associated committees are sending out desperate fundraising emails begging the GOP faithful to help save America by getting behind Herschel Walker in his Dec. 6 runoff against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia.
But what’s not immediately clear to recipients is how little of that money is going to Walker’s campaign: just a dime for every dollar given by small donors.
Walker’s campaign, which has trailed Warnock’s in fundraising throughout the election, is asking fellow Republicans to stop their fundraising practices — or at least to start sharing more with the candidate.
Herschel Walker during his Unite Georgia Bus Stop campaign rally in Norcross, GA, September 9, 2022. Photo by Demetrius Freeman / The WaPo
“We need everyone focused onwinning the Georgia Senate race, and deceptive fundraising tactics by teams that just won their races are siphoning money away from Georgia,” said Walker’s campaign manager Scott Paradise on Monday.
“This is the last fight of 2022, and every dollar will help,” Paradise said. “The companies and consultants raising money off this need to cut it out.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, November 14, 2022
The good people at GoBankingRates.com have compiled a short list of “States Whose Economies Are Failing vs. States Whose Economies Are Thriving,” which was written by Certified Financial Planner and Registered Investment Adviser John Csiszar, who, following his graduation from UCLA with a B.A. in English and a specialization in Business, worked in the financial services industry for 18 years.
Mr. Csiszar also earned the Certified Life Underwriter designation, while simultaneously working for a major, full-service Wall Street broker-dealer, and forming his own investment advisory firm, which managed over $100 million in client assets, in addition to providing investment advisory services, financial planning, and other related services.
His financial specialties include performing financial analysis, risk-avoidance strategies, long-term savings techniques, capital preservation tips, personalized investment advice, and daily budgeting.
In addition to that stellar financial profile, he further demonstrated diverse entrepreneurial skills by opening and managing a boutique travel company, and is a published author of 5 educational books on topics ranging from information technology to the element aluminum which are aimed toward the young adult market. He has also written extensively for numerous renown publications, and has authored several thousands of articles on personal financial planning, and financial services.
In his most recent article for GoBankingRates.com, “States Whose Economies Are Failing vs. States Whose Economies Are Thriving,” he lists 15 states each in 2 categories: States Whose Economies Are Failing, and States Whose Economies Are Thriving. The general purpose of the article and enumeration is to examine how states are faring in their economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. By examining 60% of the 50 states, it provides a relatively decent picture of the overall state of the states, and how they are each faring as individual parts of the greater national economy.
He notes specifically that because “the U.S. is such a large country, with a wide diversity of states and economies, the recovery is Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, November 10, 2022
Yes, it’s TRUE:
Iowa Republican Senator Charles “Chuck” Grassley, now aged 89, (b.1933) was born before the invention of the chocolate chip cookie (late 1930’s).
And — believe it, or else — Iowa voters returned him to the nation’s Capitol to serve warm a seat another six (6) years in the United States Senate.
So, when was the chocolate chip cookie invented?
For that answer, we find this:
“The original recipe was created in the late 1930s by Ruth Wakefield who famously ran the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts. The delicious mix of crispy cookie and melted chocolate chunks first appeared in Read the rest of this entry »
NONE of that mass-produced, factory-farmed, Made-in-China, Made-for-China gobbledygook.
This does NOT need refrigeration!
And, these pieces are also cooked, of course.
Oh! And you KNOW, that since 2013, Smithfield Foods, in Smithfield, VA, a formerly-American-based company, has been OWNED BY THE COMMUNIST CHINESE “Shuanghui Group” (now known as “WH Group” because it sounds more “American,” you know) because Smithfield’s Wall$teet corporate owners sold their American birthright for a paltry bowl of porridge — a mere US$4.72B.
You DO recall that China is a Communist nation, don’t you?
WH Group’s “global headquarters is strategically located in Hong Kong, with regional headquarters in China and the U.S.,” while the “Headquarters Shuanghui Development in Luohe, Henan Province,” China, and WH Group’s U.S. Headquarters of their Smithfield Foods division is in Smithfield, Virginia.
WH Group is also one of the LARGEST FOREIGN OWNERS of American farmland, with 146,000 acres, and that separate sale (as part of Smithfield’s holdings) was worth US$500M, according to the USDA.
Put another way, 146,000 acres is 228.1252 square miles… that’s nearly 20% (18.79% exactly) of the entire state of Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, October 9, 2022
Neoliberalism’s Globalization scheme has failed… SPECTACULARLY.
And all it took was 50 years, a global pandemic, the practical decimation via “outsourcing” of the majority of the American domestic economy, an increase in homelessness, deaths of all kinds from all sources, addictions, crime, disease, mass incarceration, increase in preventable deaths from lack of healthcare, all-time high wealth dispartity, increase in poverty rates, tax cuts upon the wealthiest Americans and their corporations, after GOP POTUS Richard Nixon kissed Communist China’s Chairman Mao’s derriere through cozying up to Mao’s successor/henchman Chinese Communist Chairman Chou En-lai.
What is “neoliberalism”?
Well, one thing it’s NOT, is pro-American.
The sequence of events that led to ‘Brexit’ — a moniker referring to the British exit from the European Union — began as part of a neoliberal campaign to deregulate many previously-regulated industries, and create a ‘free market uptopia’ in the UK. They failed at every turn.
The other thing that IT IS, is a primarily a GOP-wielded tool… though, in all fairness, there have been some Democrats (like Bill Clinton) who enthusiastically supported it, along with the so-called “Three Strikes” laws which is a two-part scheme, consisting of a:
1.) School-to-prison pipeline, which then becomes a;
2.) Prison-packing scheme
— which has continuously disproportionately harmed our non-White brothers & sisters, primarily, and in that process turned America into a police state. In the United States, there are MORE TOTAL PEOPLE INCARCERATED than in all the prisons combined in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, North Korea, China, and other despotically-ruled totalitarian regimes worldwide.
Applying a “Free Market” ideology to that scenario would dictate that capacities of the prisons should not be enlarged (in order to minimize operating costs), and instead, build Wall-$treet-traded PRIVATE FOR-PROFIT PRISONS — which is a very “pro-free market” thing to do, which again, is part and parcel of neoliberal behavior, strategies, and tactics.
Yeah.
But “neoliberalism” is a hard-line “modern spin” on some old ideas, at least as interpreted by an entire cadre of moderns (most of whom are in the current era).
“philosophical view that a society’s political and economic institutions should be robustly liberal and capitalist, but supplemented by a constitutionally limited democracy and a modest welfare state.”
Typically, individuals who subscribe to, and promote, such ideas often do so blindly, and unthinkingly.
Again, most — but, not all — whom have espoused, or supported neoliberal ideas have been (and are) GOPers and Radicalized Republicans.
The preposterous absurdity of that statement is self-evident, because if government is the problem, then the obvious solution to that problem is elimination of it (government); and the absence of government is a state of anarchy, chaos, and lawlessness. Yet, it was at that point in which radicalized Republicans who identified themselves as the “TEA Party” caucus (Taxed Enough Already), began in earnest to slowly dismantle government, bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece, and law-by-law.
POTUS Clinton was also largely sycophantic to the GOP’s destructive objective under the direction of GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, when he proudly proclaimed in his January 23, 1996 State of the Union Address, that “The era of big government is over.” Yet, his go-along-to-get-along strategy proved inadequate when faced with the reality of the failures of Three-Strikes laws, creation of a school-to-prison pipeline as a private-prison-for-profit packing strategy, which incarcerated more non-Whites than Whites, especially through disparate sentencing for crack vs powder cocaine, and cannabis.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, September 24, 2022
The way some of those clowns write, one would think the sock… er, stock market had crashed, that Mount Vesuvius had become active once again, and that nuclear war had broken out all over.
This is just so MUCH BULLSHIT. (Or instead, perhaps that should that be bullshittery?)
I mean, seriously… a 1% and a 1.6% decline?
Are you kidding me!?!
That’s a “plunge”?
It’d be like dipping the very tip of your little finger in a finger bowl moistened with a few drops of water and then claiming that you went swimming in the Pacific Ocean.
If anyone went to any store anywhere and saw a sign reading “HUGE SALE! Up to 1.6% off EVERYTHING!” they’d laugh the store to shame for promoting such an asininely ludicrous bit of blatantly fraudulent puffery and nonsense.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, August 25, 2022
Contrary to what some political pundits, prognosticators, soothsayers, and talking heads say, Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race has not “turned ugly.”
It has always been ugly.
Keystone State residents are faced with what has, once again, become a sad reality across this nation:
An extremely wealthy GOPer faces off against the Common Man.
And in that process, the GOPer merely shows their true colors. But unlike the true colors in Cindi Lauper’s song by that same title, they’re not beautiful. They’re grotesquely hideous, and a maliciously macabre mockery.
The nation saw it in Georgia with Kelly Loeffler, the unarguably wealthiest individual ever to warm a seat in the U.S. Congress — House, or Senate — whose financial net worth, with her husband Jeffrey Sprecher, owner and CEO of the New York Stock Exchage, was then valued at upwards of $800 million.
In fact, under Trump’s tax law changes, the entire purchase price of a new or used aircraft bought by a company can be a 100% tax deductible write-off against its earnings.
What the multi-millionairess did, was to create an “ownership trust,” which is a company that owns the plane, rather than herself personally. By so doing, it offers some degree of anonymity by giving it the appearance of being isolated from the individual(s) whom actually control it. Essentially, it’s a type of “shell company” set up exclusively for the purpose of ownership, and nothing else.
Tripp is an alum of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and one would expect more from a university-educated woman like her, and certainly much, much, more from the one who hired her — Oz, a very wealthy (as in multimillionaire wealthy) retired cardiologist. Of course, Oz has his own baggage, but the difference is, he doesn’t carry his own luggage — he has a porter to carry it for him.
But Tripp’s remark not only shows ignorance, it shows Oz’s true colors… his yellow belly, and forked tongue.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Losing WIN, and Feeding the Poor:
Ford, Carter & Reagan have important lessons to teach us.
Remember Gerald Ford, and his WIN — “Whip Inflation Now” — campaign?
It was a failure.
The two premises of that effort — encouraging increased individual savings, and reducing personal spending — were not merely ineffectual, they were also justifiably ridiculed because they did absolutely nothing to lower prices.
In a TRULY free market economy, not only is government allowed to compete, but prices, as others and I have continually said, are controlled by the seller, NOT the buyer. The SELLER is the one setting prices.
For example, if Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, Marathon, Valero, and Phillips 66 (in the TOP 10 largest oil companies globally by revenue) were to reduce by 25% their consumer prices of gasoline & diesel fuel (and, they could), that would significantly change, at least on some level, the volume of sales/consumption.
Yet the study of economics also tells us that merely lowering prices will not always increase consumption to a certain price level. Consider bananas; if more folks ate more bananas, their prices ~might~ decline, but only modestly, and certainly not by 25%.
Though agricultural production has some similarities to industrial production, it fundamentally relies upon a renewable resource to satisfy demand (including an often-fickle, and increasingly angry and uncooperative Mother Nature), where as oil does not, because petroleum is a finite resource.
And THAT is PRECISELY WHY others and I maintain that establishing a windfall profits tax (WPT) could be used to help consumers -and- companies that rely upon petroleum for their existence, because it would return TO THE PEOPLE a ~fraction~ of the excessive portion of the rapacious profit made by Big Oil companies which are paid to their executives, overlords, and Wall Street wheeler-dealer shareholders.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, July 10, 2022
Joker in Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. has presided over THE MOST radicalized Supreme Court in well over 100 years.
Since his nomination by then-POTUS George W. Bush, and Senate confirmation by a 78-22 margin, Roberts has demonstrated, time, and time, and time again, that he, and other radicalized SCOTUS GOPers, have no respect for the legal concept of stare decisis, precedent, or other staid legal matters, the purpose of which is to provide stability to civil society.
What do Robert Bork, and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts have in common? To find out more, read on.
If, in the law, nothing is TRULY ever settled, and any court now, or in the future, can simply overturn any law or decision with which they disagree — regardless of how long it’s been in effect, and regardless of what their confirmation testimony was — then our nation’s foundation is insecure.
And like subterranean termites tunneling into a well-built house, practically undetected, it is showing signs that it has been undermined. And just as with termite damage, exactly how extensive it is, how severe it has become, and what repair costs will be, remains to be seen.
Since becoming Joker in Chief Justice in September 2005, he has presided over 20 reversals of opinion, some dating as far back as 1911.
What do Robert Bork, and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts have in common? To find out more, read on.
In the Leegin case, the matter brought before the SCOTUS was one of violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act through price-fixing by Leegin, which, as the court’s decision stated in the beginning, that, “in Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U. S. 373 (1911), the Court established the rule that it is per se illegal under § 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U. S. C. § 1, for a manufacturer to agree with its distributor to set the minimum price the distributor can charge for the manufacturer’s goods.”
Further, the court noted that, “on appeal Leegin did not dispute that it had entered into vertical price-fixing agreements with its retailers.”
A “vertical agreement” is the integration of two or more businesses in a supply chain. A “horizontal” merger would be the combining of two or more companies that did essentially the same thing.
Vertical agreements are generally illegal because they tend to eliminate competition, create a monopoly, artificially increase prices and otherwise adversely affect a free market.
And yet, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Leegin.
Why?
This is where matters begin to show the influence of relationship and affiliation.
What is fascinating, and disturbingly telling, is that the Roberts-led radical court quoted a book on anti-trust law authored by Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, June 28, 2022
史密斯菲尔德食品
Wan Long, RIGHT, Chairman and CEO of WH Group, formerly called Shuanghui International, shakes hands with Charles Larry Pope, President and CEO of Smithfield Foods, at a press conference of WH Group in Hong Kong, China, 14 April 2014. Two subsidiaries of Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co have gained access to the Russian market, after its parent company — WH Group Ltd, the world’s largest pork producer— acquired US pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc and bought a stake in Campofrio Food Group SA of Spain, the largest pan-European packaged meat products company, last year. The two Heilongjiang-based companies — Wangkui Shuanghui Beidahuang Food Co and Heilongjiang Baoquanling Shuanghui Food Industry Co — got the official nod after their production facilities and products were examined and assessed by officials from Russia’s meat products watchdog, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, in August, Shuanghui Development said on its website. To widen its import market for meat, the Russian government agreed to import meat products from five Chinese suppliers by the end of August, indicating the nation has taken a flexible strategy to balance the supply and demand relationship, while the US and its European allies are trying to squeeze the country’s trade space in the world market.
Chinese translated as “Smithfield Food”
Amidst the cacophony of overall price inflation in fuel, food, and other items, there are numerous underlying and related causes.
There are not merely one, two, or even three contributing problems to this lingering miasma, and rather, like a line of dominoes tumbling, one after another, significantly increased prices in consumer goods are taking a toll on Americans, whose incomes — unlike those of CEOs, and other high-level corporate executives — have not risen in response.
Consider food.
The United States Department of Agriculture found national slaughter capacity reductions[i.e., the CLOSING of abattoirs/processors/slaughterhouses] in pork, and cattle, of 35-40%, and 30-40%, respectively, which have translated to hyper-inflated costs to consumers.
NOTE: Big Oil has done similarly. They’ve closed their oil refineries & capped wells, thereby creating a false shortage, and simultaneously INCREASED prices, resulting in record profits not seen since the 1950’s.
THAT is why fuel prices are sky high.
There is NO OTHER REASON.
The Energy Information Administration has a page dedicated to Refinery Utilization and Capacity in the United States which shows that 679 oil refineries were closed and not utilized in 2021 — the GREATEST number ever, since 1985.
But business practices, related closures and production slowdowns in abattoirs and processing facilities have their roots elsewhere in time, and policy.
On June 10th, 2022, the communist Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods announced the following:
Smithfield Foods, Inc. today announced that it will cease all harvest and processing operations in Vernon, California in early 2023 and, at the same time, align its hog production system by reducing its sow herd in its Western region. The company will decrease its sow herd in Utah and is exploring strategic options to exit its farms in Arizona and California. Smithfield harvests only company-owned hogs in Vernon. Smithfield will service customers in California with its Farmer John brand and other brands and products from existing facilities in the Midwest.
• A little less than a year ago, in early July 2021, Smithfield settled (for $83M) a Class Action Federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota accusing it of price-fixing, and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, June 28, 2022
The
EXCLUSIVE REASON
WHY GAS PRICES ARE HIGH
is because
OIL COMPANIES HAVE CLOSED REFINERIES
&
REDUCED REFINERY INPUTS.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s website (https://www.eia.gov/) has a page dedicated to “Refinery Utilization and Capacity” (https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_unc_dcu_nus_a.htm) which shows that, NOT ONLY have BIG OIL companies CLOSED REFINERIES, they have also DECREASED OIL PRODUCTION (Gross Inputs to Refineries) — BOTH which have contributed EXCLUSIVELY to hyper-inflated gas prices, and bank-busting profits for BIG OIL & their stockholders.
In other words, they’ve also “capped oil wells.”
One way to INCREASE PROFITS is to PRICE GOUGE, another is to MANIPULATE THE MARKET.
BIG OIL companies are doing BOTH.
Refineries — which are owned by oil companies — have been CLOSED BY THE OIL COMPANIES, despite making bank-busting RECORD PROFITS. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, June 26, 2022
Hearken back about 2 years, or thereabouts, when the COVID pandemic was descending into its deepest throes in our nation, when news came out of South Dakota that employees at a meat processing plant there in Sioux Falls began to suffer rampant infection with the viral disease.
Around March 25, 2020, the first news of an infected employee was shared with the Argus Leader’s FaceBook-based tip page when an anonymous tip was sent that an unnamed employee had tested positive for the disease. They published the story online the next day at 0735 with the straight-forward headline “Smithfield Foods employee tests positive for coronavirus.” (see: https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2020/03/26/smithfield-foods-employee-tests-positive-coronavirus/2914475001/)
The Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, though a company spokesperson, Keira Lombardo, Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs, had confirmed to the to the paper the veracity of that claim, and asserted that the unnamed employee was being quarantined for 14 days, with pay, at their residence, and would not be permitted to return to work until given medical clearance to do so. The exceeding majority of employees there were immigrants, and refugees from all over the world – including Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Nepal, with over 80 different languages spoken in the plant – most of whom did not speak English, and rumors had been circulating of other employees who had earlier fallen ill and were hospitalized with a mysterious disease.
Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods pork processing facility in Sioux Falls, SD, where the American COVID-19 pandemic first began to escalate among immigrant & refugee employees characterized as “front-line” workers. A company spokesperson said a majority of meat they export to China are so-called “underutilized” products that are allegedly not consumed in the U.S.
In the 3-week period that followed, positive cases of coronavirus among plant employees rapidly escalated from 80, to 190, then to 238. And by April 12, with 644 confirmed cases, the number of infected individuals at the plant accounted for about 55% of all cases statewide, with a per capita concentration of 182.25 per 100,000 — far exceeding those of more populous neighboring states, greater even than Chicago, and Seattle — while Sioux Falls’ population was a little over 192,000. Ultimately, the number of positive cases continued skyrocketing, and eventually had at least 761 positive employees.
After the 1st confirmed death, and under mounting pressure from Republican Governor Kristi Noem, and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, both who wanted the plant to close for 2 weeks, officials at the plant announced that Read the rest of this entry »
Tomorrow (February 1) is the first day of 
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Warm Southern Breeze 