Tag archives: president donald trump

“Most of what passes for ‘investment advice’ is nothing more than speculation about an unknowable future.” – Joe Calhoun III, Alhambra Investments. “Economics is an entire scientific discipline of not knowing what you’re talking about.” – P. J. O’Rourke. “What passes as sensible economic commentary by politicians, pundits, and preachers is but a torrent of […]

The only war objective that the Administration has had success with is the degradation of Iran’s military capabilities. The other goals have not been achieved.  – There has been no regime change and the people have not risen up in rebellion. – We have not eliminated Iran’s nuclear threat. We have degraded their programs, but […]

On the day this article reaches the newsstands it will be the 19th day of the WAR in Iran. Things are still uncertain and moving fast. My Part I article on the war yielded a lot of comments, good and bad. I’m accused by critics of a lot of things – mainly that I ignored […]

Since my last column two weeks ago a lot has been going on in the world, but nothing as significant as the war against Iran. At the time of writing this article (Sunday) it’s moving too fast and it’s far too early to come to any conclusions as to its outcome. Regardless of what you […]

Many immigrants have come to our country as desperate refugees, some fleeing for their lives. The fact is most immigrants are honest, hardworking people, and this group has a lower crime rate than U.S. citizens. Unless you’re a Native American, you’re an immigrant or come from immigrants. Many of the immigrants we came from were […]

In the 1980s, Reagan was waging wars around the world that most Americans were blissfully unaware of. One of those was in El Salvador. Yes, the same El Salvador that kept delivering refugees to our doorstep. And that Trump lawlessly uses as a torture prison. Our Central America Response Network raised awareness and direct aid […]

You might be surprised that the short answer is: Yes. How can that be? There are no tanks or soldiers rolling down the streets of our major cities. Oh, wait. Yes there are. But we have elections. And legislators and courts. And private institutions and billionaires with their own power. And private media. When we […]

Making prognostications about the future of 2026 is, I admit, a stupid thing to do. No one can predict the future. Those who say they can are mostly just lucky. But, what the heck, maybe my guesses are just as good as anyone’s. We will see on January 1, 2027. Here goes. Mid-term Elections and […]

My editors invited me to offer my predictions and/or hopes for the year ahead. I claim no special talent for making predictions. Nixon and Reagan were fond of psychics, notably the Republican Jeane Dixon. Dixon gained fame by claiming to predict the assassination of President Kennedy. Sort of. She also predicted that Nixon would win […]

Trump has ordered the military to blow up boats in international waters based on a claim that they are part of a drug “war” against the U.S. He has presented no evidence for this claim. A debate began after a September 2 attack when the U.S. military destroyed a boat and then killed the survivors. […]

Recent politics looks like a bad movie we’ve seen too many times. Not quite a disaster movie, and some of it borders on comedy, but more like the Gong Show (for those of you who can remember it). I realize this may sound like disgruntled sarcasm on my part. Mea culpa. But, how could one […]

Seven million Americans rallied across the country on Saturday to declare “No Kings” for a second time. A reference to Trump ruling lawlessly by executive order since January. Under the Constitution the president only has two minor powers. He does not legally get to send masked thugs to kidnap and deport people without a hearing. […]

Our condominium complex recently had a “meet your neighbors” pool party. One woman “Barb” realized I was on the Board of the homeowner’s association (HOA) and she expressed concern that the HOA fees were rising too much. I explained that our HOA insurance rate had doubled in the past few years due to the Climate […]

President Trump, casting himself as the nation’s top investment guru and seeing opportunity in Intel, announced the government’s $8.9 billion investment in Intel for a ten percent stake in the company. The money comes from Biden’s Chips Act, the purpose of which was to create more onshore chip manufacturing. Intel had already received $2.2 billion […]

Donald Trump is everywhere in the news lately. He dominates the daily headlines. Thus the title to this article (yes, I stole it from the movie). He’s hard to avoid. The fact that Trump is in the news constantly is an important issue. He is the news. That is because of powers relinquished by Congress […]

“Shock and Awe” was the G. W. Bush term for his attack on Iraq in 2003. Trump’s Big Ugly Billionaire Bailout Bill (BUBBB) is a shock and awe attack against our own people. Perhaps this should be called “Shock and Awful.” The bill adds $3 trillion to the U.S. debt – almost all from tax […]

A sea of demonstrators filled Cabrillo Boulevard on Saturday as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protest, joining millions across more than 2,100 U.S. cities in opposition to what organizers describe as presidential authoritarian overreach. Estimates for the Santa Barbara turnout ranged from 5,000 to as high as 18,000, making it potentially one of the […]

I like Elon Musk. He’s one of the greatest innovators of our time. He revolutionized the automobile industry with Tesla, outpaced NASA with SpaceX, created a global wireless network with Starlink, and is on the cusp of a brain-computer interface with Neuralink. Think Thomas Edison. Musk – supposedly the world’s richest man – is a […]

It pains me to use my precious column space to provide basic civics lessons, but it seems that most Americans need them. Since my February article “Three Unequal Branches of Government?” I have asked everybody I meet if they know that there is just one primary branch of government. Not one knew that. When asked […]

DEI is under stress from within and without. President Trump issued on January 20, 2025, an executive order terminating “all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI in the Federal Government.” DEI’s roots are found in President Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 executive order 11246, which required federal contractors to “take affirmative action to ensure that employees are treated during […]