WarGamer
WarGamer's JournalMinimum wage... inflation... the "Six-Figure" Dream Job...
My first job was at $3.10 an hour...
Gas was 99 cents a gallon. Middle class SoCal houses were $150k.
We all talked about the "Six-Figure" job...
It was something to work towards. I was lucky... I've been making six figures since the late 80's.
But 90% of young people TODAY are STILL dreaming about that "Six Figure" dream job.
And now gas is $4+/gal, that same $150k house is now $850k and I paid $10 for a McD's 1/4 pdr meal the other day.
Nearly 40 years... and the jump to Middle Class is STILL out of reach for many.
It's not a minimum wage problem... it's deeper than that.
Think of dollars as floating objects.
90% of the dollars float to the ceiling and 5% fall to the floor, leaving 5% floating around the middle of the room.
When COVID-19 is in the rear view mirror... where do we leave the bill?
So... this thing has cost the US a fortune, not only in precious lives but in precious CASH.
I think it'd be WRONG to just leave the red ink on the balance sheet and go on.
Today, the UK announced new taxes to compensate for Gov't expenditures due to C19.
We REALLY need to do the same.
Several Options:
1) A special VAT tax for 10 years... maybe an extra 0.1% on all retail purchases?
2) Raising the mid to upper income tax levels. For example
Current 24% tax bracket (folks making 85-163k) increase to 27%
Current 32% tax bracket (folks making 163-207k) increase to 36%
Current 35% tax bracket (folks making 207-518k) increase to 40%
Current 37% tax bracket (folks making 518k+) increase to 45%
3) A limited time increase in Capital Gains taxation?
4) One-Time Wealth Tax?
5) Annual Wealth Tax?
Let's bottom line it... the BILLS need to be paid. NO leaving the red ink on the books. Every other civilized nation on Earth will be raising taxes in the wake of C19.
Will our leaders follow?
It's only logical.
The J&J Vaccine could be a game changer... but it probably won't be.
If I were King... or President or whatever...
Assemble an insulated package with 100 does of J&J Vaccine with a cool-pak and mail ONE pack daily to every pharmacy in the US.
Sound daunting?
Have Amazon be responsible for the delivery.
Pharmacists and their techs give shots year round... they know what they're doing.
Leftover vaccine can be stored in the existing refrigerators in the Pharmacy.
Start poking folks at 9AM, 50 shots available and again at 1PM, last 50 shots.
You'd get FAR MORE vaccines in people's arms without this IDIOTIC NONSENSE of massive football stadium parking lots with 6 rows of cars driving thru getting poked through the window.
Unfortunately... gov't bureaucracy isn't always overly bright.
EDIT: They should also allow self-vaccination. There are ALREADY self-administered syringes engineered and produced.
In addition, a typical city of 100k might have 25 pharmacies. That's 2500 vaccinations a day, 17,500 a week and 70k a month.
About the anti-Manchin vitriole...
Manchin can have McConnell sworn in as Majority Leader within 24 hours and the stationary changed within 72 hours.
If Manchin jumped ship... what would his approval numbers be in WV?? 55-60%??
Manchin is teflon and radioactive at the same time.
Calling for ANY action against him is foolish. Any news story speaking ill of him will just push him closer to picking up his phone to Leader Schumer.
Manchin is the ONLY thing between Schumer and McConnell being Leader and the entire Biden agenda foundering.
Until 2022, that is...
LA Times: Blah, blah... COVID this and that... we're fucked.
California’s coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: ‘The devil is already here’
https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-02-23/california-homegrown-coronavirus-strain-looks-increasingly-transmissible-and-dangerous
“The devil is already here,” said Dr. Charles Chiu, who led the UCSF team of geneticists, epidemiologists, statisticians and other scientists in a wide-ranging analysis of the new variant, which they call B.1.427/B.1.429. “I wish it were different. But the science is the science.”
"It also opens the door to a “nightmare scenario”: That the two viruses will meet in a single person, swap their mutations, and create an even more dangerous strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus."
The new evidence that the California variant could make people sicker, and vaccines less effective, should spur more intensive efforts to drive down infections, Chiu said. Those should include both public health measures, such as masking and limits on public activities, and a campaign of rapid vaccinations, he added.
My commentary.
Vaccines are nice, if they work. Get to work HARDER on treatments... and for God's sake...
WEAR YOUR DAMN MASK and wash your hands, keep hand sanitizer in the car and just stay home as much as possible.
THIS.AIN'T.OVER.
Why do reviled rich people always go down like this?
If I were rich and had made a career out of pissing off over half the country...
I'd never give my opponents a day to celebrate.
I'd have it all planned out. When the Doctors said, "You're well past your expiration date" and we expect hospice in here next week or two... I'd hop on my private jet to somewhere secluded and die without a public announcement.
Of course, I'd juice it up. While I felt well enough and had the energy, I'd record hundreds of audio and video segments to further my presence into the future far past my assumption of room temperature.
I'd record audio segments for future release on topics that hadn't happened yet, but might. I'd record dozens of different Super Bowl and Word Series clips congratulating the winner of the '21 World Series and the '22 Super Bowl. I'd record endorsements for campaigns that didn't exist yet. I'd keep fucking with my opponents for YEARS.
It'd be pretty easy. Just let a few loved ones know what was happening and have someone controlling the appearance of continued life.
Disappearing would be easy. Fly into somewhere like Bangkok (flight data is a tattle-tell) and hop on a yacht to some island near Thailand/Indo/Philippines. Have a few Med staff with you, sworn to secrecy and bribe a local authority to let them drop you in a hole in the Jungle.
Rich people have NO IMAGINATION.
Hell, with Deep Fakes... you could even record post-mortem videos.
Inside the Texas power crisis.
Logical question, what's happening?
1) Wind power production down. Turbines frozen solid.
2) Natural Gas shortage
3) Solar production drastically down.
4) Refineries offline, gas prices soon to rise.
Bill Gates nuclear reactors for the 21st Century are sounding better every day.
His new book is out now.
Bill Gates new gamechanging book on Climate Change comes out tomorrow.
This is a REALLY good read:
(I read the story for free through my Google timeline, it's pay to read at WSJ)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bill-gates-interview-climate-change-book-1161317333
He's really a brilliant man, a futurist right when we need one. He's a proponent of safe nuclear energy, which IS the solution we've been waiting for. He recognizes the complications of 1 Billion people in the world eager to move into the 20th century by flipping a light switch for the first time and considers that in his solution.
Bottom line, we can end fossil fuels and remove sufficient CO2 from the atmosphere by 2050 for around $5T a year globally.
EDIT: and to add... if we can kick in $4T in less than a year to fight COVID, we can kick in $1T a year for the climate...
Silence out of Mar-a-Lago, what's up?
All jokes aside, lets talk about it without memes and jokes.
One, I don't believe a shred of the "CNN reports a Trump adviser says Trump ate toast with jam this morning..."
In Palm Beach, he's surrounded by loyalists and the only "word" that gets out is leaked on purpose.
SO what's he up to? His well known reputation for vengeance has me thinking he's plotting his next moves. But why the silence?
1) Laying low during Impeachment Trial. Opening his mouth may have been just enough to make 17 GOP'ers shut him the hell up.
2) Without Twitter, he's creating an intentional void and a social media vacuum. I expect him to be pushing a new Social Media app soon, a Trumpy Gab, Parler or TikTok looking thing.
3) Has his 757 been brought in for service yet? One of it's engines was past-due for maintenance and FAA laws don't allow an aircraft to be flown without current checks so it was stuck in NJ iirc. He's got the Citation X, of course but he wants to roll up in the big bird.
4) In negotiations for sale of properties? I think he wants to remove all physical and economic presence from NY and other blue States/Cities. I expect to see Trump Tower in NYC sold this year.
5) I expect him to announce the formation of a new SuperPAC and probably a Presidential run sooner rather than later although I don't believe he'll run in 24. Why, you ask? Because if he announces a run he takes on an (kinda) umbrella of protection from lawsuits and prosecution as being "motivated to damage a political opponent".
As a student of history, it's all delicious to watch.
This is the real-life equivalent to the story of Frankenstein's monster. All the little Frankensteins over the last 40 years, Bill Kristol, Steve Schmidt, Glenn Beck, BushCo, etc etc... have been working on a project in the basement to aide them in accomplishing their blue blooded, war loving neo-con bullshit. The project paid off when the monster went into action as the Tea Party and took over DC.
But today, the monster is on the loose and can't be brought back to the lab.
Why no guns?
Think of this as Devil's advocacy... or more accurately, wargaming.
Just like I'd ask "Why did/didn't Rommel reinforce the Cotentin Peninsula in May 1944"?
Why didn't the rioters bring guns to the Capitol? Were they "dead enders" seeking a political statement? Were they seeking an actual coup, taking over the Gov't like the military in Myanmar? Were they looking to "frat boy" inside the Capitol?
Here's my opinion, after thorough analysis.
I don't think this was a coup attempt at all. The motivations varied by the individual. SOME of the rioters certainly would have torn a Congressperson to shreds if they had the chance. But reports from inside the Capitol actually show many rioters walking between the velvet ropes as if they were on an 8th Grade field trip.
Look at the damage to the Capitol. Relatively light damage, no arson. They did less damage to the Capitol than the jocks did to the nerds dorm in Revenge of the Nerds.
Again, IMHO... I think they wanted to disrespect the gov't, not kill it. They wanted to humiliate and sully our national institution while demonstrating strength and impudence.
To circle around to the top... why no guns?
Profile Information
Name: JGender: Male
Hometown: SoCal
Home country: USA
Current location: Socal
Member since: Mon Feb 1, 2021, 09:27 PM
Number of posts: 12,478