Scattershots – 18dec20 (updated 22dec20)

George Rebane

The recall of Gov Gavin Newsom is making good progress, and petition signatures may be collected until 10 March 2021.  Here is the link to get your signature on a petition to recall this hubristic progressive idiot before he does more damage to our state.

Cato’s annual Human Freedom Index just published; it rates each country’s freedom along twelve dimensions.  The top ten countries in order of rank were - New Zealand, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Estonia, and Germany and Sweden (tied in 9th place).  The United States and United Kingdom tied in 17^th place.  And it appears that, given the Democrats’ headlong progressive plunge toward socialism, our freedoms will be more limited as Team Biden builds back leviathan and its stifling laws, regulations, and taxes. (more here)

[19dec20 update] California finally has a draconian plan to chase away the rich, and then keep stalking them.  Now going through the state Assembly is “a proposed wealth tax (that) would apply for a decade to anyone who spends 60 days in the state in a single year.” (more here)  I have prophesized this future for us for some years now.  The state has been so badly mismanaged by collectivist Democrats for decades that it now needs to go after the already-taxed assets of its residents, starting with the wealthy, and then as always, working the damage down to the middle classes.  “Assembly Bill 2088 proposes calculating the wealth tax based on current world-wide net worth each Dec. 31. For part-year and temporary residents, the tax would be proportionate based on their number of days in California. The annual tax would be on current net worth and therefore would include wealth earned, inherited or obtained through gifts or estates long before and long after leaving the state.”  The ongoing exodus of our producers will now sky rocket, to be replaced by the new battalions of Biden's border bandidos.  These are topics worthy of discussing with our progressive readers who will not touch them with a ten-footer.

Expanding on the theme that Democrats are butt stupid and evil, we should note some stats over the last couple of years as reported by the WSJ –

• 660 companies have left California,
• 765 companies’ facilities have been moved out of California,
• Over 200,000 Californians have emigrated to Texas, more to other destinations,
• Welfare recipients and illegals continue to arrive in droves to keep the population stable.

And all because we have a political monopoly of double dummies who have no idea how humans behave (‘Tax rates don’t affect economic behavior’) and how to manage a productive economy.  All they know is that to stay in political power they need ever more ignorant voters buttressed by illegal aliens on the way to citizenship and the ballot box (not necessarily in that order), and tax the bejeezus out of those who have money and can still earn.

[22dec20 update]  Corporatists are racing to implement racist policies, and pledging big bucks to assure the new woke administration and their lamestream mouthpieces that they indeed are virtuous to a tee.  But it’s hard to tell where all those millions and billions will be spent to the advertised goal of "racial equity" in lending to and locating in black communities.  And no one is sure that the promised amounts aren’t just coming back to other businesses not owned by blacks.  But the puffing and parading under banners of social justice in the media is worth twice price paid to PR outfits to promote the newly progressivist participants.  BTW, haven't we tried all this at least a couple of times before? (more here)

Comments

[Barry Pruett]

Signed it today and dropped off a blank petition at the gym. Lol.

[Don Bessee]

Cheat by mail -

The 2020 presidential election witnessed an unprecedented and coordinated public-private partnership to improperly influence the 2020 presidential election on behalf of one particular candidate and party. Funded by hundreds of millions of dollars from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other high-tech interests, activist organizations created a two-tiered election system that treated voters differently depending on whether they lived in Democrat or Republican strongholds,” Amistad Project Director Phill Kline wrote in the report’s executive summary.

The report identified three key actions that, taken together, “represent the beginning of the formation of a two-tier election system favoring one demographic while disadvantaging another demographic.”

Private monies dictated city and county election management contrary to both federal law and state election plans endorsed and developed by state legislatures with authority granted by the United States Constitution.
Executive officials in swing states facilitated, through unique and novel contracts, the sharing of private and sensitive information about citizens within those states with private interests, some whom actively promote leftist candidates and agendas.
Swing state governors also started issuing emergency executive orders shutting down in-person voting while pouring new state resources into encouraging persons to vote in advance. Polling data revealed this coordinated assault on in-person voting generally favored Democrat Party voters who preferred to vote in advance, while placing Republicans, who preferred to vote in person, at a disadvantage. These actions represent the beginning of the formation of a two-tier election system favoring one demographic while disadvantaging another demographic.
“This evidence is present and available to all Americans,” Kline said at the press conference of the information included in the report.

“The mainstream media has also tried to censor this evidence,” he noted, adding that, “America understands that there are serious problems with this election.”

“This effectively is a shadow government running our elections,” Kline continued

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/12/18/report-mark-zuckerbergs-419-million-non-profit-contributions-improperly-influenced-2020-presidential-election/

;-)

[paul emery]

Gosh George all the top 10 in the Freedom Index that you list have universal national health care. I thought that leads to socialism and communism. How do you explain that they are way ahead of us on the Freedom Index with my favorite Denmark in 4th place and the US in 17th. Why don't we emulate one of their health care systems and increase our freedom?

[Don Bessee]

Talk about tortured twisted logic from the pony tail of ignorance.

;-)

[Walt]

Go there Emery. Dare ya'. You would like it. It's a monarchy.
And like the UK,, MANY parties. looking for control.
Oh... And plenty of Muslims looking to run it. Just like Sweden..
Better get there before Denmark ain't Denmark anymore.. Copenhagenstan if you will.

[fish]

Gosh George all the top 10 in the Freedom Index that you list have universal national health care.

You should emigrate.

[paul emery]

they are ahead of us on the "Freedom Index" that George features and expresses a concern because we are tied for 17th place and Denmark is fourth

[George Rebane]

PaulE 609pm - Gosh Paul, I've explained the answer to that several times and in detail. I don't think it will ever stick.

[paul emery]

George

It really doesn't make sense. You are against national health care because it is socialistic and that leads to Communism and here we have all these countries that have universal national health care that have a higher freedom index than we do. Basically what you said was eventually it will catch up with them. Well we've been discussing this for 10 years and it seems that nothing has changed. Also you have yet to cite ONE country in the world that has the type of health care you envision for your self described free market health care for all plan that has little or no government involvement.

[Walt]

Emery.. Your SO full of crap.
Take your memory meds. O'losercare was a disaster.

[Walt]

Funny, you like it so much,, but refuse to move to where it is.
WHY EMERY WHY????

[Don Bessee]

So will creepy grampa joe let the chi coms keep stealing our stuff? -

An unnamed “senior Commerce official” told the WSJ the U.S. government is especially interested in blocking SMIC for obtaining American technology that could be used in “drones, military aircraft, and exoskeletons” — the latter an application the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China is keenly pursuing for troops deployed into extreme environments.

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/12/18/us-blacklists-smic-chinas-top-chip-maker-plus-60-other-entities/

;-)

[The Estonian Fox]

Barry @ 5:41PM-

Did Gov. Newsom have his people there checking ID's before you were allowed to sign?

[Steven Frisch]

Posted by: paul emery | 18 December 2020 at 09:19 PM

Yep, Paul is entirely correct.

Not only do all have national health care, all have signed the Paris Climate Accord.

And it has been more than 10 years hearing all this was going to lead to creeping communism and autocracy. Yet there they are, free, democratic, prosperous, and liberal democracies (well except for Hong Kong now.)

Face it boys, the sky is not falling...

[Walt]

When you moving to Sweden,, Frisch? I hear they need a better worm farm.

[Walt]

The ECO bastards just don't understand how the ECO works.
It's been "warming" for 10,000 years. and they want a return to the ice age. Good GOD what dumbshits.
Thanks to them, the wildfires have gotten SO much worse. The price of building has gone up tenfold. "Green power"... What a joke. How much more does it cost? And Ca. has blackouts because of it.
And of course,, electric cars.. Now there is "efficiency" for ya'. You can run your AC unit for days on what power those things use in 4 hours.

[L]

Paul @ 6:09p, Frisch @ 5:24a- Freedon in societies has nothing to do with single payer health care nor with the Paris travesty.

For Paul- why don't you go read Don's link directly above your entry; you'll easily be able to discern how we are becoming progressively unfree...

Steve, please comment: China presently emits 40% of the world's CO2, we about half that. We agreed to cut back to (if memory serves) 1990 levels and are in fact have decreased CO2 emissions more than any nation on Earth. China has agreed to stop increasing CO2 by 2030, but no mention of decreasing thereafter. Sound like a good deal when economic prosperity is so closely linked?

Fortunately for the rest of us, CO2 doesn't actually have anything to do with climate change; our present climate is the best it's been since records have been kept.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 919pm - For you "nothing has changed" because you haven't been paying attention to world news and the RR commentaries that have reported on the changing landscape of nationalized healthcare across the world - the lamestream does a terrible thing to healthy minds.

And there is no requirement for ANYTHING to already exist that has the desiderata of what one is trying to achieve - all new developments, inventions, revolutions, ... have been dreamt of, pondered, and launched without the need for precedence (as was America). My life has been blessed with the ability and opportunity to walk where none have yet trod. Your usual logic remains fallible.

But fear not, I'll take the time for another pedagogical submission on nationalized healthcare. Patience.

[L]

Paris goals are, as we know non-binding, but nevertheless China is (for once) living up to its promise...to increase emissions, up about 5% since 2015. The left just loves its communists, such responsible stakeholders they always are.

[George Rebane]

'No More Camaros for You' - in line with California's headlong rush into a rapacious socialist autocracy, our Democrats are creating another leadership slot for the state to punish its productive citizens.
https://spectator.org/camaro-california-ban/

[Walt]

The American worker won't put up with this very long.
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/12/18/cato-shows-joe-biden-how-to-flood-the-white-collar-labor-market/

“The new administration should go far beyond simply rescinding [President Donald] Trump’s changes and adopt reforms that make legal immigration easier … this compilation fills a gap in the administration’s regulatory agenda,” said an op-ed in TheHill.com by David Bier, a Cato employee.

The guidebook reflects the political shift of big business from the increasingly populist GOP towards the increasingly progressive Democratic Party. The new alliance promises to spike Wall Street with a wave of government-delivered consumers and workers, albeit with minimum wages set by the Democrats.

Bier helped write the December 18 guidebook, titled “Deregulating Legal Immigration: A Blueprint for Agency Action.”

[The Estonian Fox]

George @ 10:08 AM-
"In a study published January 31, 2017, in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, Georgia Tech researchers described how vehicle-emitted metals such as copper, iron and manganese interact with acidic sulfate-rich particles already in the air to produce a toxic aerosol." https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.6b06151

In other news, the Babylon Bee's article on airborne non-metallic particulates produced by footwear, especially high-end sneakers, may spell the end of shoes for humans. Look for California to ban those bad boys by 2034. Expect to pay an import fee, for any visitors to the state of more than 3 days.

[The Estonian Fox]

Notable items from the Human Freedom Index-
1. The U.S. fell 9 spots from 2017 rank.
2. Data is through 2018. The authors expect Hong Kong to fall substantially in next year's index.
3. Of the top 10 countries, 8 are tied to England in some manner, for centuries.
.. New Zealand - post-British rule.
.. Australia - post-Brit
.. Canada - post-Brit
.. Ireland - same as Brit?
.. Denmark & Sweden - pre-Brit (tough call to say which country the Vikings originated from)
.. Germany - pre-Brit (Brits are not Anglo-Saxons because of invaders from Zimbabwe)
.. Hong Kong - 150 years of Brit law & some acquired cultural quirks

Botswana is the highest rated country on the African mainland at 58. Wouldn't you expect one nation from the cradle of humanity to be in the top ten somewhere? Why not?

“Without security or the rule of law, liberty is degraded or even meaningless.” Maybe look for the U.S. to fall some more by 2023.

“The freedom to associate and assemble is an essential part of individual freedom and a basis of civil society.” OK to assemble at Walmart, but not at your local Lutheran Church.

“…in future reports… we will be surprised if Hong Kong’s freedoms are not noticeably degraded, especially in the areas of freedom of expression, the rule of law, and freedom of association, assembly, and civil society.” Thank goodness it was Hong Kong. For a minute there I thought they were describing America’s future. We dodged a bullet from the machine gun on that one.

“Legal Gender - …sex/gender marker change… A rating of 7 (for U.S.) was assigned to countries with prohibitive medical requirements, including hormonal treatment, sterilization, and genital surgery.” Of course, if they followed the science, this category would not exist. And I don't know what 'gender marker change' means. And they didn't define it.

[L]

I realize the futility of asking our resident leftists to supply reasons for the policies their feckless "leaders" espouse, but could one or more of you elaborate on the reasons the US is in need of millions more migrants, educated ones who put natives out of work or the far more numerous illiterate and quasi-criminals? The former prevent wages from improving, the latter soak up all the loose change by depending on welfare, so why do you guys insist on bringing them aboard?

I know, votes, but how about an economic reason? Is there a people shortage?

[D]

George misses the point about the taxes for people who stay in California for 60 days or longer. That would apply to people with permanent residences in other states who are coming in here so it would get tax money from out of state residents.

[George Rebane]

D 1250pm - Huh??? Expand on my missed point.

[Bill Tozer]

Ah, the exit tax. While the lyrics of the song ‘Hotel California’ says “Welcome to the Hotel California... but you can never leave“ may not be accurate, the State tax collectors are tying their darnest to make it true.

Now D, which part of this Rebane prose you find so difficult to wrap your head around?

“For part-year and temporary residents, the tax would be proportionate based on their number of days in California. The annual tax would be on current net worth and therefore would include wealth earned, inherited or obtained through gifts or estates long before and long after leaving the state.”

Long BEFORE and Long AFTER leaving the state. So, let’s take a hypothetical example. I spend less than half my time in CA. I am from Delaware and made some mega bucks in the banking industry. Then I moved an office to San Jose, which I visit a couple says a month. After I paid CA taxes to Sacramento for the income generated by my California office (now closed), my folks die and I inherited 4 houses on the East Coast , 5 million in stocks and bonds...plus a nice big sail boat and lifetime docking rights in MA. And CA wants a piece of that, calling it a tax on my net worth? Well, I hope it’s pro-rated on the actual days I spent here as a non-resident.

I hear all these hare brained ideas floating about that are plumb crazy. Tax unrealized gains? Ok, tax unrealized gains in your mutual fund or brokerage house accounts. Suppose the market takes the south train and tanks. Do I have to for file for a tax refund when my unrealized gains become unrealized losses?

Net worth. Tax the filthy rich on their net worth. Ok, that means every year I have to pay for an appraiser to come to my home to give me a dollar amount of what my home is worth at tax time. Oh, that painting on the wall in the study? Call another appraiser to tell me it’s current value. Oh, my stamp collection that my grandfather gave me as a youth? Call another appraiser to let me know it’s current worth at tax time...all on my dime to feed those who have never never never seen someone else’s dollar they haven’t already spent. Their lust is insatiable.

And when it comes to sell some of your net worth, the taxman is there, waiting. Best to donate it to charity and save on the taxes.

[paul emery]

Estonian Fox

You write that: 1. The U.S. fell 9 spots from 2017 rank.

Trump has been in control since then with a Republican Senate so It's obviously his problem. Good thing he's leavong. Our Freedom index will surely improve. I mean it's more than doubled in the negative since Trump has been President. Add that to the collapsed economy and 7 Trillion Dollar debt during Trumps 4 years.

[L]

Paul @ 4:38- I wish you could step outside your mental dungeon and see how insane and hateful your remarks are, and getting worse.

According to your lights, Trump is responsible for everything from the national debt to your own body lice. Trump's debt problem (actually the responsibility of congress, both R and D for all my adult life, is about equal to O- roughly a trillion per year, 8 for Obama (doubling what he inherited) and 4 for Trump (adding another 20%) and would perhaps have reached 8 in four years, not double, but up 40%.

The other 3 were 'spent' in the last 10 months in a hopefully-successful attempt to alleviate the suffering brought about by you assholes' panic over a new strain of flu.

If Nancy had her way, that would now be 6 trillion, mostly to bail out the bankrupt gov pension plans in Kali, NY and Chicago. What the F do you imagine Biden and the Kleptocrats have in mind for the next four years, paying it down?

[Scott O]

Paul "Trump has been in control since then with a Republican Senate so It's obviously his problem."
Yeah Paul, Trump has been in complete dictatorial control over every single fed, state and local law, regulation and edict.
Paul - I'm pretty sure Hirschman's Pond has creatures living on the bottom that possess more intelligence than you.
TDS has had it's way with your noggin and the damage looks to be permanent.

[paul emery]

So you are admitting Scott that Trump has been an ineffective leader blaming it on the minority party in control, the Dems. You didn't give Obama that edge blaming him for everything that happened during his 8 years.

Here's the grizzly details on the national debt under Trump. Thank goodness he was dumped by a record number of voters:

"During his campaign in 2016, President Trump promised to eliminate the national debt in eight years.Instead, it is projected that he will add at least $8.3 trillion.

As of October 2020, the national debt reached a new high of $27 trillion, an increase of almost 36% since President Trump took office in 2017.

The national debt and the amount President Trump contributes to it may be higher once the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is realized.

Trump has overseen the fastest increase in the debt of any president—almost 36% from 2017 to 2020. Trump has not fulfilled his campaign promise to cut the debt. Instead, he's done the opposite."

https://www.thebalance.com/trump-plans-to-reduce-national-debt-4114401

[Barry Pruett]

Did the USA fall nine places or did other countries just become more free. 🤔🇺🇸

[paul emery]

Who knows Barry. It was Georges post that started this whole thing. He was trying to make the point our freedoms were in decline.

[Bill Tozer]

“He [Dr. Rebane] was trying to make the point our freedoms were in decline.”

Well, they sure as hell are, Paul. 1st Amendment, Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment just to start to clear my throat.. What you eat, what kind of car you drive...ah, forget it. I guess if you want the freedom to purposely give another AIDS in California, you got that Increased freedom.
****
Bottomline: It’s the ‘other dude’s fault’ defense. He started it! Why are you picking on me, it’s GEORGE’s fault:

“Who knows Barry. It was Georges post that started this whole thing. He was blah, blah, blah.

[paul emery]

I agree with you Bill. it was Georges post that started the whole thing.

[Bill Tozer]

Paul.
Thus you have absolved yourself from any personal responsibility for past, present and future actions. Well done.

[The Estonian Fox]

Barry @ 5:20PM-
By my interpretation of their data, a drop in religious freedom in the US caused about half of the drop in our score. Big movers were: Estonia moved up; and Norway & the UK moved down, but less than we did.

They list 10 year's worth of data for 7 of the 12 dimensions. But only 2018 data for the other 5 dimensions, so don't know which of those decreased from 2017.

[paul emery]

Estonian

And that all happened on Trumps watch because it is the present compared to 2017.

[Walt]

See? Emery feels a LIB can do no wrong.

[Scott O]

Paul "You didn't give Obama that edge blaming him for everything that happened during his 8 years."
Paul - first you make an idiot statement about Trump and then you come up with a false statement.
I have blamed Obama for the things that he has said and done.
The idea that I blamed Obama for 'everything' during his term of office is completely untrue and you know it.
I realize it's just too much for you lefties to understand how the various levels of govt actually work and the separation of powers between the fed and state and local govts.
But keep reading here and just maybe some facts and truths might seep into your brain.

[Don Bessee]

So the pony tail of ignorance thinks religious freedom was Trumps fault, not thats funny! ROFLOL

By my interpretation of their data, a drop in religious freedom in the US caused about half of the drop in our score

;-)

[paul emery]

So Scott whose "fault" was it that in four years we added around 7 Trillion to the national debt?

[Don Bessee]

The word is reconciliation oh great pony tail of ignorance @ 801.

;-)

[Scott O]

Paul 8:01 - "whose "fault" was it that in four years we added around 7 Trillion to the national debt?"
Most of the American people.
Only a small amount of "ultra right wing wackos" want to truly balance the budget.

[Bill Tozer]

Don @ 7:15 PM

Yep, and is it any wonder why the Dems have a big anti-Semitism problem on their hands. Opps, I said 'problem'. Sorry. Mea Culpa.
The Progressives and the Woke don't see it as a problem at all. Been that way long before Jesse Jackson's Hymetown. Termites. The irony is not lost on The Deplorables.

Protestants, Catholics (Western Civ) are all under the gun of constant Lefty ridicule and debasement. Fair enough. It comes with the terrority. "They WILL hate you because they hated me first." You can take that promise to the bank.

But it is this hatred for the Jews that has always bothered me. All the FBI/DOJ stats show unequivocally that the #1 target of hate crimes and assualts (and rising) against any group (gays, blacks, POC, etc) is the Jews.

50 years ago I read James Mitchner's 1,000 page paperback The Source and got a good history lesson on the Jewish men being made to run naked with down the streets on Spain with ribbons tied to their dongs, and and at least thousand years before and after. If nothing else, I am aware of the long history of singling out the Jews for persecution no matter if they are only 3% of a nation's population.
Being a French Jew or NY Jew is not a good place to be presently. But I thought we were the Land of the Free.

[Scott O]

I wouldn't worry about Assembly Bill 2088. It's completely un-Constitutional. I would worry about the solons who come up with this sort of idiot scheme. And any that would vote for it.

[Bill Tozer]

Californians flee state in numbers so great it is projected to lose House seat and electoral vote for first time

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/californians-flee-projected-house-seat-electoral-vote-loss

[George Rebane]

BillT 944pm - Mr Tozer, we note that not a single leftist in these pages has deigned to address this most significant evidence that the state has been and continues to be grossly mismanaged - they are all in terminal denial that the people they elect are both ignorant and grifters.

[Gregory]

BT 1246PM

And ... what if illegals get dropped?

[Bill Tozer]

New York is the state with the larges amount of residents fleeing high taxes, Big Bro, and surging crime that goes unpunished. The Empire State is set to lose one Congressional Seat in the 2020 census and for first time ever Florida will surpass NY in population.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-leads-us-in-population-drop-could-lose-house-seat

[George Rebane]

Regarding all the national exoduses (exodi?) from states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and, of course, California, I draw your kind attention to 'The Sovietization of California'. All of these mass migrations are denied by the Left, once again vindicating the Rebane Dictum that you can indeed have your own opinions buttressed by your own facts, history, science, news, ... .

[L]

Gavinor Noisome- great name for your fearless, feckless fuhrer...

[Bill Tozer]

R/E [22dec20 update] Corporatists are racing to implement racist policies, and....

‘Activist dismayed 'affluent black kids are demanding lowered standards,' not equal treatment‘

“Civil rights activist Carol Swain, who was just named to President Trump's "1776 Commission" to teach American heritage, told Just the News this week she is dismayed that "affluent black kids are demanding lowered standards" instead of equal treatment under the law.

“Swain, a prominent African-American social and political commentator, said she's also horrified that left-leaning activists today are dismissing time-tested social virtues and institutions like punctuality, proper grammar, the nuclear family, diligence and perseverance as examples of "whiteness" or "white-dominant culture."

“I certainly take issue with it, because it seems like we have gone backwards when it comes to race relations," said the 66-year-old Swain. "During my generation, we wanted equal opportunity. We wanted to be able to get into places to show what we could do. And now, all of a sudden, when we are so prosperous, when black people are in positions of power throughout our society, all of a sudden, these affluent black kids are demanding lowered standards. And so it's a reversal. And the progressives, the white progressives who push it and go along with it, they are the true racists. They've always been racist."

“Swain said the "soft bigotry of low expectations" lamented by former President George W. Bush in a 2000 speech to the NAACP was still relevant today and even exacerbated by the rising popularity of critical race theory, or the ideas underpinning the concept of “white privilege.”

"The affirmative action movement was never about lowered standards or special benefits, it was about equal opportunity and non-discrimination," Swain said. "And with the critical race theory, what's taking place with diversity, equity inclusion programs, it is reverse racism against whites. I believe it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment, and the 1964 Civil Rights movement. The shaming, the bullying, all of the things that are taking place today against white people. And I'm not a black white supremacist. I'm a person who believes in the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. I believe in civil rights laws. I don't believe anyone should be discriminated against because of the color of their skin. That includes white people."

https://justthenews.com/nation/culture/activist-dismayed-affluent-black-kids-are-demanding-lowered-standards-instead-equal

[L]

Toes @ 7:01- Refreshing!