Saturday, April 19, 2025
Kind of on point....
Friday, April 18, 2025
Haiku Friday: Birthdays!
We all have them. Some like to celebrate, some would rather hide-- but we all have at least one we remember. It can be yours, or someone else's... but let's haiku about that this week! Here, I will go first:
Got to choose dinner
I always chose KFC
Happy kid, happy Mom.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, April 17, 2025
PMT: So... this is about anti-semitism?
Last week, the home of a Jewish family in Pennsylvania was firebombed during Passover, not long after they completed a Seder. Fortunately, no one was killed or hurt, but the damage was extensive and people easily could have been victimized. The two Molotov cocktails were hurled by a man named Cody Balmer.
You would think that given the Trump Administration's oft-declared focus on combatting anti-semitism, they would be all over this. But, no. It turns out that the suspect was fervently anti-Democrat, and the victim was the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro.
Instead, they are focusing on universities where protests were held during the height of the conflict between Gaza and Israel. The dispute with Harvard, in particular, is bringing out the fact that the supposed focus on anti-semitism is really a pretense; what the government really wants is control over those universities, which always present a challenge to governing bodies.
It's too bad, too, in a lot of ways. For one thing, there is actual anti-semitism in this country, just as there is a raft of other toxic biases. And the administration's attempts to address anti-semitism AND root out those parts of universities that identify and eliminate bias (ie, DEI offices) is inherently contradictory. Do you care about bias or not?
I think the answer is not. And the agenda is really about something else.
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
They're all gone....
If you don't think NIL and the transfer portal haven't transformed college sports, consider this: Already, Baylor has no players returning next year to its basketball team. None. They are all leaving one way or another:
-- 9 players entered the transfer portal: Josh Ojianwuna, Robert Wright III, Langston Love, Jalen Celestine, Jason Asemota, Kaleb Jackson, Marino Dubravcic, Omar Adegbola and Yanis Ndonga.
-- VJ Edgecombe will be in the NBA draft.
-- 5 players graduated: Jeremy Roach, Jayden Nunn, Norchad Omier, Davidson Hubbard.
That accounts for all 15 players on the 2024-25 roster. They are all gone. And this wasn't some dumpster-fire of a team-- they made the tournament and are not that far away from the National Championship in 2021. They even have a legendary and well-respected coach in Scott Drew.
The myth that there is a connection between these players and actual schools is hard to believe anymore....
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
What's all this stuff about treasury bonds?
If you were following all the hub-bub about financial disruption last week, you probably noticed a lot of blathering about treasury bonds. They actually are very important-- and what is happening with them now could have a huge impact on our financial future.
The United States government has a lot of outstanding debt, and we finance that debt by selling treasury bonds that are purchased, held, and traded by people all over the world. Because everyone has been pretty confident that the United States will pay its debts, it is seen as a bedrock safe investment. Because of that, treasury bonds don't have to offer much in terms of interest.
That's good for us, because the higher the interest rate on treasury bonds, the more expensive it is to finance our debt. It's like someone who spends 30% of their income on their mortgage, which is an adjustable-rate loan. If that rate goes up suddenly, then the homeowner is suddenly paying much more on the mortgage every month, even though they still have the same old house.
What happened last week is that the United States threw up tariffs all over in a way that didn't seem very well thought-out, and that spooked the bond markets. We didn't seem so reliable. People (well, mostly governments and institutions) started to sell their US treasury bonds, and when that happens the interest rate on new (and old) bonds goes up as the price goes down, because we have to keep selling them to finance the debt and the higher yield will induce people to accept more risk and buy the bonds. So, in a nutshell: Crazy times>America unreliable>People sell US bonds>Price goes down>Yield goes up>suddenly we owe a lot more on our debt because our interest rate increased.
And we are more than $36,000,000,000,000 in debt, so having to pay even a half-point more to service that debt is a huge expense-- billions and billions of dollars. That's money we all will owe that we get nothing from, simply because markets were (or will be) destabilized by our elected government.
To put it another way, a tiny increase in the bond yields will cost far more than anything saved by all of DOGE's cuts, pain and mayhem.
The other thing is this... a lot of what we are doing right now is alienating other countries, banks and foreign institutions-- the people who hold a lot of those treasury bonds. They know that dumping them will hurt the US, and we too often are giving them a reason to do just that.
Monday, April 14, 2025
On rivalries
Well, this one got people's interest! We had several entries from IPLawGuy, but this one was the best:
Breakfast Cereals
Spaceman Quisp v. miner Quake
Both Sugarlicious!
Spaceman Quisp v. miner Quake
Both Sugarlicious!
Though I liked this one:
Redskins v. Cowboys
was important to DC
Not so much these days.
was important to DC
Not so much these days.
And this one, too:
Maryland v. Duke,
UNC and NC State,
The old ACC.
UNC and NC State,
The old ACC.
Desiree had a good one (also about the ACC):
His face was dark blue.
None of that pale tarheel blue.
Cameron was home turf.
None of that pale tarheel blue.
Cameron was home turf.
And Christine, too (also about UNC/Duke):
Torn loyalties
Our healthcare from UNC
Volunteer at Duke.
Our healthcare from UNC
Volunteer at Duke.
And I love this anonymous one!:
Rivals for Archie
Betty and Veronica
Blonde versus brunette!
Betty and Veronica
Blonde versus brunette!
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Sunday Reflection: Palm Sunday v. Palm Beach Sunday
Today we read this in Luke 19:
36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
It's the end part that strikes me. The disciples were telling a truth with their words. The government tried to tell them to stop, but Jesus made something important clear: that the truth will always come out.
We are entering a time when it seems there are some truths that are not supposed to be said out loud by law firms or students or by government workers: about the continuing racial bias in our country, about the value of immigrants, about the needs of people who have the least among us.
But those truths will come out; that is the way of God's world.
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Ladies!
Yesterday, after the first haiku came in and mentioned them, I asked AI for a picture of "Betty and Veronica with Archie." Here is what it gave me:
Yikes! There are a lot of problems with this image:
-- First of all, that is NOT Archie.
-- And why is everyone kissing Veronica?
-- In addition, the car behind them has an odd anomaly: The front of it is a hardtop (or a convertible with the top up) and the back of the car is a convertible with the top down.
-- There seems to be a quote bubble coming from someone in the vestibule of the building behind them-- probably wondering about all this mess.
-- And finally-- What's the deal with Betty's shoes? They don't seem right somehow.
Friday, April 11, 2025
Haiku Friday: Rivalries
I once accidentally wandered onto the campus of Ohio State's The University, and was surprised to find that all of the "M's" had been x-ed out on street signs. I couldn't figure it out... until I did. Boy, do those guys hate the University of Michigan!
So let's haiku about rivalries this week-- college rivalries, personal ones, cola wars, whatever! Here, I will go first:
The Harvard-Yale game
Somehow, a real spectacle
Not about football.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern, and have some fun....
Thursday, April 10, 2025
Political Mayhem Thursday: Two steady truths in a time of economic mayhem
Markets are in tumult as the Trump administration seemingly comes up with a new and zany tariff regime every few days. After a couple days of "huge tariffs on everyone (except Russia)!" now they have flipped to "even huger tariffs on China, a pause for everyone else!"
Here are two central economic truths that may shape the outcome of all this over the long term.
1). Businesses can handle almost every challenge if they can know what that challenge will be over the next several months or years. They build tariffs, for example, into their cost estimates and make adjustments over time. What business does NOT deal with well is rapid and unpredictable change-- and that is exactly what they are being given. This tumult may freeze both investment and credit, and that is going to be very bad for the economy.
2). China has been hit hard by the tariffs, and now is singled out. The problem is that their economy is huge-- the second-largest in the world, and about 2/3rds the size of the US economy. That means that they can react to this by shifting to new markets and building new alliances, including (and probably especially) to economies in Asia and Europe that have historically looked to the US to take the lead on trade. In other words, China connecting to Europe and basically ignoring us won't be a good thing for us in the long term-- we are going to lose markets in both places. Also, the severing of an economic relationship with China is going to really hurt agricultural exports and create inflation in the US, since all that cheap stuff you get at Amazon and Walmart comes from super-efficient manufacturers in China.
It may be tough to look at your 401k right now-- but the true cost of all this may come due in several years, where we find ourselves looking around at world that is working around us rather than with us.
Wednesday, April 09, 2025
Well, Justice Sotomayor has had it...
Yesterday the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling in Trump v. J.G.G., vacating a DC Circuit Court opinion that upheld a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration that attempted to stop the government from deporting Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act. The four dissenters were Justices Jackson, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Barrett. The most striking part of the dissent was this, from Justice Sotomayor:
Far from acting “fairly” as to the controversy in District Court, the Government has largely ignored its obligations to the rule of law. From the start, the Government sought to avoid judicial review, “hustl[ing] people onto those planes” without notice or public Proclamation apparently “in the hopes of evading an injunction or perhaps preventing them from requesting the habeas hearing to which the Government now acknowledges they are entitled.” That the District Court is engaged in a sincere inquiry into whether the Government willfully violated its March 15, 2025, order to turn around the planes should be reason enough to doubt that the Government appears before this Court with clean hands. That is all the more true because the Government has persistently stonewalled the District Court’s efforts to find out whether the Government in fact flouted its express order.
The Government’s conduct in this litigation poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law. That a majority of this Court now rewards the Government for its behavior with discretionary equitable relief is indefensible. We, as a Nation and a court of law, should be better than this. I respectfully dissent.
So, there's that. But still, a dissent.
Tuesday, April 08, 2025
My Wordle Habit
For the past several years, I have played Wordle pretty much every day-- and most days I write a little poem about it on Facebook. There are a lot of people who have dropped the habit, but I can't shake it. Here are some of the things that I love about Wordle:
-- It's not much of a commitment. In the absence of something odd, it usually can be completed in a few minutes.
-- Unlike much of our lives, vocabulary is rewarded!
-- People who play have feelings about it, especially when a word seems unfair (ie, "Kazoo")
-- The game is governed by a firm set of rules, most of which (ie, no plurals) are never stated by the game makers.
-- Some days are just harder than others-- just like real life.
Monday, April 07, 2025
Great concerts!
Like a bad promoter, I forgot to post haiku Friday's topic on FB. Still, we got three solid entries:
This one from Des:
Salsa, African
beats. We danced all night to those
Carlos Vives’ tunes.
beats. We danced all night to those
Carlos Vives’ tunes.
This from Jill Scoggins:
Last-minute invite:
Springsteen at Houston’s Summit.
The Boss delivered.
Springsteen at Houston’s Summit.
The Boss delivered.
And an anonymous post:
We rode Norton there—
Mick rode piano sans belt!
Opened mouth—crowd roared!
Mick rode piano sans belt!
Opened mouth—crowd roared!
Sunday, April 06, 2025
Sunday Reflection: Moments of Joy
Can we talk about joy?
Everyone I know who has a profound faith aspect in their lives has been propelled towards joy through that faith. It sounds odd, I know-- we often think of faith as somber and hard-- but it has certainly been a part of my own journey.
I think the root of that joy is in the freeing nature of the essence of faith-- that there is a God and it is not me. To know that there is a creator of the universe, an order to things that we may not understand (and that is ok) uncorks something in us. And of course it does!
There are times I have expected joy but did not feel it: when I won a trial, or an award of some kind. But when I do feel it is when I may not expect it: when I am skiing, or driving and singing, or in church. It comes up unbidden, real, alive, good. Like that still, small voice it is something that is beyond me.
I want more of it.
Saturday, April 05, 2025
Maybe we aren't doing this right?
Friday, April 04, 2025
Haiku Friday: Memorable concerts
On Sunday, I saw Kraftwerk in Minneapolis-- the first time I have seen them since the 1990's, in Detroit. (That's actually a photo I took at the concert above).
Let's haiku about memorable concerts this week! Here, I will go first:
Ramones in August
Warehouse in Anacostia
Sweat revelation.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern, and have some fun!
Thursday, April 03, 2025
PMT: It's Tariff Time Again!
Yesterday, President Trump imposed a new round of tariffs, largely directed at our top trading partners (though not, this time, Canada and Mexico). I have some thoughts:
-- I DO think we need to capture some of the manufacturing that has shifted wholesale to China. This is one way to do that-- but it is going to produce a shock to the system we may not be ready to handle, because of Chinese products our own manufacturers need, and the low-value products we are not good at producing.
-- One anomaly is that if we really wanted to restrict China, we would probably not also smack around the alternative low-cost producing countries, like Vietnam and India. What this combination of actions will spell is the end of $5 shirts at Wal-Mart and cheap toys at Target. That's fine with me, but it will matter to a lot of people.
-- It might be surprising to some that the EU makes up a higher percentage of imports than China. I suspect there are two core causes of that: (1) that products from the EU, like cars, tend to have high value; and (2) it could be that much of what comes from the EU is not manufactured goods but services.
-- The point of this, according to Trump, is to encourage manufacturing in the US. Some of that might happen-- but it will take a while. And in the meantime, a slew of side-effects (including inflation) will be something we have to deal with....
Wednesday, April 02, 2025
1 1 1 1
Something unusual is happening with this year's Final Four in the Men's tournament: All four of the # seeds made it through, the first time that has happened since 2008, and only the second time in the history of the tournament. Kudos to the people who did the seeding-- but it also speaks to the way talent is getting more concentrated in a few schools due to NIL money and the transfer portal.
Tops seeds making it through has historically been more true in the women's tournament, and that was the case this year (with the exception of #2 seed UConn, which won out over #1 seed USC, which was missing their star player, Juju Watkins):
So we are looking at 8 teams left in the two tournaments, and 7 are #1's. This could get kinda boring, huh?
Tuesday, April 01, 2025
On the road
I like driving-- I like it a lot. When I was a little kid, driving represented freedom, the ability to go wherever you wanted. Hey, you want a candy bar? Just drive on down to the store and get one.
And when I grew up I learned that my sense of things was exactly right. Even now I will be driving to work and think "if I wanted, I could just drive on out to California." I don't, but freedom is having the option to do something as much as it is the doing.
I like the feeling of driving, too-- the way a car is an extension of your body that makes you much, much faster. I've had a variety of cars, but I always look for the same thing when I buy one: if I decide I want a candy bar, will it feel good to get there?
Monday, March 31, 2025
What you call yourself...
Quite an intriguing set of haiku on the subject of names!:
IPLawGuy's haiku only makes sense if you know his name is Tom/Thomas (it's not really IPLawGuy):
Peeping not for me
No one thinks I am a saint
sometimes, I do doubt.
No one thinks I am a saint
sometimes, I do doubt.
And I am intrigued that someone named "Desiree" would focus on her last name (given the amount of commentary she has probably heard about her first name), but here you have it:
Loved my last name so
I kept it. Aurora, Rose,
Florence would be proud.
I kept it. Aurora, Rose,
Florence would be proud.
Jill Scoggins has a revelation:
No middle name but
have never missed it. Most I
know hate theirs. Spared that!
have never missed it. Most I
know hate theirs. Spared that!
And Anonymous would rather have a real-lady name (as opposed to "Anonymous"):
Can’t I be Audrey?
Sophie, Vanessa, Carla?
My name is so plain!
Sophie, Vanessa, Carla?
My name is so plain!
