My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on April 29, 2021

Personally I don’t like using the word "bold" for taxing and spending by big government since it has a positive attribute (at least to my thinking), but President Biden’s Joint Address last night was unlike any we’ve ever seen. It looked far more like a socialist spending wish list than a unifying address to bring the country together.  It is depressing to see progressive leftist taking more from citizens and dictating, regulating and growing dependency.

As the BabylonBee commented (jokingly below) .. "Man Who Has Been In Government For Nearly 50 Years Promises To Fix Government." Of course to those who have followed partisan politics and ideology for decades, Democrats (and to be fair, a lot of Republicans) want to control people, maintain power and spend rather than let the individual direct their dollars. There is a place for government, but it should be small, non-intrusive and focused on securing our country and maintaining conditions that allow free enterprise to thrive and grow our economy. Ever dollar politicians take out of our hands, is one less that be used to build a business, invest or used efficiently for ones family. Besides the TRILLIONS in proposed borrowing and spending, the regulations and restrictions will cost ever American in the future.

"This man who has been part of the broken system since 1972 is our last hope to fix the broken system," said a DNC spokesperson. "See, since he’s been part of the problem for so long, only he knows how bad the problem is. So only he can fix it. If you got some outsider with, like, morals and stuff, they would be too horrified to even go to Washington in the first place."

"No, we need someone who’s been part of the swamp and has participated in much injustice, oppression, and bloodshed to fix the whole thing from the ground up."

LINK

Category: Humor, News, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: address, biden, Politics, speech

Posted By RichC on April 28, 2021

Brenda and I chuckled the other day that while we watch television news interviews and participating on Zoom calls, that we find ourselves noticing, pondering and commenting on "backgrounds" since the COVID19 pandemic.

The included TV photo (left) is just an example as to what we do in thinking and commenting on the antiques, artwork and children/pet fencing people have in their homes when on interviews.

BTW, an interesting background on  Dr. Janette Nesheiwat’s guest spot on FoxBusiness.

Category: Misc | No Comments »
Tags: background, covid19, foxbusiness, pandemic, television, tv, zoom

Posted By RichC on April 27, 2021

General Electric‘s ($GE) first-quarter 2021 earnings were as they should be. Still, it wasn’t quite enough for investors.

General Electric (ticker: GE) shares were down about 2.7% in premarket trading. S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures, for comparison, were both off about 0.1%.

The company reported an adjusted profit of 3 cents a share, topping Wall Street estimates for a 1 cent gain, while burning through about $845 million in cash, also in line with analyst projections. The start of the year is typically the seasonally weakest part for cash generation because customers tend to pay their bills at the end of the year.

MORE

Category: Financial | No Comments »
Tags: earnings, financial markets, ge, general electric, investing, stock, trading

Posted By RichC on April 26, 2021

This content is restricted.

Category: Memories, Music, Radio | No Comments »
Tags: amateur, build me up buttercup, memories, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, radio, shortwave, the foundations

Posted By RichC on April 25, 2021

Although I’ve owned a small amount of Bitcoin in a cryptocurrency account for a while now, I’ve been wanting to attend a primer on the subject. Thankfully Barron’s offered a free webinar hosted by Beverly Goodman and explained by Grayscale’s Michael Sonnenshein. It was great fill in some of my knowledge gaps, but my question as to insuring holders security of one’s assets was still left unanswered. Who can you call if/when something isn’t right .. hacked, stolen, glitch, etc?

Still it was worth attending last week and I suspect, just like driving EVs, we’ll all be using cryptocurrency just as we do credit cards in the not too distant future. Mr. Sonnernshein left with some good actionable advice: "Set up an account and send $5 in Bitcoin to a friend as a way to get comfortable with how it works.’

The Guide to Cryptocurrency

As an extension of the Crypto edition of the Barron’s Guide to Wealth, Barron’s Editorial Director, Beverly Goodman speaks with CEO of Grayscale Investments, Michael Sonnenshein about investing in cryptocurrency.

This call will offer several perspectives on why advisors and their clients need to get smarter about this rapidly evolving asset class, and what they need to know if they incorporate it into a portfolio. Even advisors who have embraced crypto are finding challenges to how they take custody of assets, set fees, and generally adapt their practice to accommodate client interest in Bitcoin and other cryptos. We’ll also cover why corporations are investing in crypto and which use cases make sense and which don’t.

Click for Bitcoin PDF Whitepaper

Category: Education, Financial, Innovation, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: barrons, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, grayscale, investing, webinar

Posted By RichC on April 24, 2021

There’s not much a tools and gadget guy like me likes more than getting something new for my workshop.

After breaking a bit in my cheap-ish countersink a few weeks ago (probably imported from China), I opted for a new Montana Brand Tools which are a USA-made set rather than just buying a new cheap drill bit for my old one. It was probably a rash and unneeded purchase (direct rather than Amazon) since I don’t use it all the time. My justification is that I can use the old one for countersinking rough carpentry and keep these newer ones for inside-the-workshop finer woodworking.

Since I was already going to pay for FedEx shipping, I fell prey to the “matched” self-centering plug cutters to go with it. Ugh … let’s hope Brenda doesn’t notice the charge on our credit card.

Category: Tools, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: bits, brand, countersink, cutter, montana, plug, tools, woodworking, workshop

Posted By RichC on April 23, 2021

I’ve used Twitter as my interactive Newsfeed for almost 15 years now and it has been a struggle to decide if it is worth it or not? BUT, like most people who start the addictive habit of using social networks and reading “feeds” (newsworthy or not), it is a difficult habit to stop.

For the “newsy” component, most of what I follow is national business and political news with a smattering of locally fed stories having to do with weather, sports or community. I once enjoyed connecting with Taylor’s teachers and our local schools, but that seems like a long time ago.

The other part part of the feed is the social aspect. Twitter has remained my connection to a few of my hobby friends from aviation and car guys … to photography and technology .. as well as science and miscellaneous jibber-jabber and humor. This is probably the area I could improve on and whittle down who I connected with … and definitely who’s tweets notify me on my phone. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy the back and forth connections and virtual friendships, but besides “social” and learning things in areas that interest me, I do spend an excessive amount of time glancing at my iPhone when it chirps, then reading and often replying (thankfully they are short tweet,s but still I’m shocked how much I use it!)

Prior to social networks, we … or I … connected with others through forums/clubs (Bulletin Board Services – BBS in the early days), Yahoo and Google group lists, directly by email or commenting on individual blogs. Now most of this has moved to social networks like Facebook (I still have an account), Instagram, TikToc, and a bunch of others that I avoid like the plague. I’ve tried to discipline myself to stick with ONLY Twitter since it is my connection to news and people with my interests. Using even Twitter (as well as email, text messaging) as well as keeping up with my daily blog is bad enough … I don’t need any more.

Category: Blogs, Personal, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: analytics, networking, newsfeed, social, tech friday, techfriday, time managment, twitter

Posted By RichC on April 22, 2021

After just finishing cutting the lawn on Tuesday night and working on our landscaping this past weekend in anticipation of a cold front with some “expected rain,” it ended up coming down as SNOW! I mean, come on, it is the time of year to be thinking sunshine, warmer weather and flowers .. not snow. 

Of course Brenda reminded me that we do occasionally get snow in southwestern Ohio this time of year (see 2014 post below break) and that this past 2021 winter was mild, so I shouldn’t complain … but perhaps I should push off the additional mulch until May?

(more…)

Category: Personal, Photography, Photos, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: pano, panorama, Photos, snow, spring, weather, yardwork

Posted By RichC on April 21, 2021

Thankfully no one was hurt at this Sprint car race, but this is too close of a call for any flag person’s comfort. Yikes!

Category: Automotive, Video | No Comments »
Tags: close call, fence, flagman, mp4, racing, sprint car, video, wreck

Posted By RichC on April 20, 2021

It seems like a lot of politicians and journalists on the left feed into and retain power by stoking racial unrest? It also appears that the leaders who are fueling the fire also have a Marxist/Socialist ideology, which at its core wants to fundamentally change America. This trend towards disharmony is not unifying for our country and I’m unsure the leaders on the left, and their followers, understand just how destructive this kind of hate is to our country?

Our schools and education system has systematically brainwashed students in Critical Race Theory (CRT)which instead of judging people by their character, judges people by their skin color and ethnicity … and stresses racial justice. Are you and oppressor based on your skin color? So much for the gains during the civil rights movement. 

For others buying into this leftist indocrinations, they see capitalism, competitive free-markets benefitting too few and fueling inequity, although even with a large gap between those at the top and at the bottom of the economic scale, America still offers far more opportunity and freedom to all citizens than any other nation. Why with all the personal freedom and independence in the U.S., would anyone want to give up this precious liberty?

Perhaps I think different because I’ve lived long enough to remember the civil rights struggle during the 1960s, when America seemed to be finally be overcoming segregation. My generation was taught and learned “not to judge people by the color of skin, but by the content of their character.”

Nearly everyone I knew recognized that prejudice was prevalent in prior generations and that it was inherently wrong by any measure. The years that followed saw significant gains in access and opportunities for all  who were willing to learn and work to better themselves. It is as if we had started to heal and were making progress … although the road was bumpy. Many minorities were even given preferential treatment and special opportunities through affirmative action programs … which in my view dampened the gains due to the unfairness and reverse discrimination. It left more divisive bitterness even as minorities  made gains towards equality of opportunity.

Fast forward 40 or 50 years and we’re now facing a new kind of discrimination trigged by cancel culture and Wokeism (something even European socialist are concern about). This time around, people are judged … not by their character … but by the color of their skin. How is this even accepted? Purposely dividing people by ethnicity, race, religion, gender, social economics or any reason is destructive for a nation.

Category: Politics, Quotes | No Comments »
Tags: censorship, martin luther king jr, marxism, Politics, socialism, woke, wokeism