Month: November 2021

Did the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, actually suggest we could get out of gas-powered cars and trucks AND electric vehicles? I heard him highlight other methods of individual transportation including bicycles, scooters and even wheelchairs.

But I did not hear him mention another option for individual transportation, one that was quite popular, especially out West, before Henry Ford invented the Model T.  Maybe Sec. Buttigieg and the entire Biden Administration will buy into my idea because it can help eliminate our use of oil with the added bonus of millions of new jobs, many of them union jobs.

So, what is my great addition to the Secretary’s list? Horses. Yes, horses.

Now, I love horses. Back in 1924 I wrote, “A man that don’t love a horse, there’s something the matter with him.” I think Sec. Buttigieg might get behind this idea because horses thrive on oats, grass and hay. All horse feed is fueled with solar energy. Not a drop of oil in a horse diet. Why, this might even propel him to the Democratic nomination for President in 2024.

Switching to horses would eliminate the problem of farmers producing too much grain which has to be exported. No, millions of acres of corn, soybeans and wheat would be converted to raising feed for horses. Instead of expensive solar collectors sprawling across farmland to fuel electric vehicles, our pastures, meadows and vast fields of oats would convert sunlight into fuel for horses.

Just imagine, with millions of horses traveling our roads and streets every day, all the jobs that would be created for workers in… sanitation. Yes, our 7,000,000 unemployed are hankering for a job shoveling, sweeping, and loading the “by-product” into horse-drawn wagons. The guys and gals driving those wagons would, of course, be members of the Teamsters Union.

Here’s another benefit. While these horses are in town, they’ve got to eat. That would solve another major problem for the climate: gas-guzzling lawn mowers. While you’re working 9 to 5, your horse can be turned loose in a city park to graze. Or a homeowner who lives near your office building might pay for your horse to graze their yard. Not just graze, but fertilize. Instead of the cost of parking, you get paid for lawn service.

Of course, this is silly. We’re not regressing 150 years.  Horses today are mainly for pleasure riding. Rodeos, horse races, and horse shows entertain millions who have no desire to ride one a few miles to work every day. Mr. Buttigieg prefers to ride a bicycle to work, at least the last mile of his daily commute.

Meanwhile in the news, Covid-19 keeps running into new variants. Just as we seem to be getting past the one from India, we’re hit with one from Africa. I don’t think it’s fair to blame these countries or a whole continent, even substituting Greek names for ‘em.  No matter how many variations of this deadly disease show up, they all started two years ago in China.

We’re not blaming the Chinese people, no sir and no ma’am. Even if we contributed to the “gain-of-function” that created the virus, the blame for the spread rests on the Communist Party leaders of China. They are the ones who let this disease spread from their Wuhan Lab. Not only let it spread, but encouraged it.  Encouraged the spread everywhere except to the rest of China. So, from now on, we need to stick with one name: Communist Chinese Covid. And the one Communist in charge of all this misery and destruction is named Xi Jinping. Now, he probably has a few good traits. Probably kind to his wife, children and grandchildren. After all, he didn’t let THEM die from Covid.

But Xi Jinping runs the country and deserves the blame for killing over 5,000,000 in 200 countries around the world. I realize killing 5,000,000 innocent people is not unusual for Communist rulers. (They’ve killed about 100,000,000.) We have battled against this slaughter by Communists for a hundred years, and it’s time for the slaughter to STOP. Xi needs to be X-ed out.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Horses raise what the farmer eats, and eat what the farmer raises.” DT #1967, Nov. 23, 1932

“The country has gone sane and got back to horses.” DT #2112, May 11, 1933

“If everybody [traded their car for a horse], they would be out of debt in a couple of years. Just think, no gas, no tires, no roads to pay for.” DT #2043, Feb. 20, 1933

“Where is your old automobile? There will never be a time when the old horse is not superior to any auto ever made… They used to take your horse and if they was caught they got hung for it, now they take your car and if they are caught it’s a miracle.” WA #507, Sept. 11, 1932

“It seems the whole idea of Communism is based on propaganda and blood.”  There’s Not a Bathing Suit in Russia, 1926

 

The murder trial ended in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse (now 18) was found not guilty of shooting 3 white men because of self-defense during rioting 3 nights after police shot a black man armed with a knife. Actually, videotapes and a witness proved he was innocent and should never have been put on trial. But you would never know it by listening to many of the news commentators or even President Biden.

So, a white person shoots 3 white men in self-defense, is found not guilty by a jury, and the verdict is blamed by many in the media on White Supremacy and racism. The jury decision in Wisconsin, resulted in protest marches and looting… in Portland, Chicago, San Francisco, and Brooklyn.

President Biden stuck to his opinion as stated in August 2020 that Kyle Rittenhouse is a White Supremacist. The 3 “victims” had criminal records and were WHITE.

Now President Biden is in a bind. Should he admit he was wrong to call Rittenhouse a White Supremacist for political purposes in 2020 or should he satisfy Democrats who still want to use race with regard to the trial outcome?

Instead of waffling about the jury decision, Biden should have immediately gone on TV telling people to NOT PROTEST. After all, he lambasted the previous president for not stopping a protest.

Will our elected officials finally agree that bringing in extra police (including the National Guard) is a good way to prevent rioting, looting, burning buildings and injuring people? If these hoodlums feared getting shot or locked up it might prevent millions of dollars in damage.

I heard last week that a prominent university is updating the list of general education classes. Those are classes that ALL students, regardless of major, must choose from for a well-rounded education. One set of proposed classes was rejected because they had “too much math and science.” Yep, that’s what we need: more college graduates, voters and politicians who don’t know a lick about math or science.

Somewhat related, the House of Representatives passed a huge social spending bill last week. Listed at $1,750,000,000,000.00, it will cost more than $4,000,000,000,000.00 despite claims it will cost us $0.00 because corporations and billionaires will “pay their fair share.” What about inflation? Today an economic advisor to the President insisted that instead of causing more inflation, the bill will eliminate the 6 percent recent increase. Must be Biden Math.

If one or two Democratic Senators oppose this massive bill it would save hiring 87,000 new IRS agents. What this country needs is more truck drivers, not more tax collectors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “Congress, with an eye, not on the budget, but on November, put a tax as high as 72 percent on some incomes.… The crime of taxation is not in the taking it, it’s in the way that it’s spent.” DT #1764, March 20, 1932

In the beginning days of Thanksgiving, its founders were willing to give thanks for mighty little. Because mighty little was all they expected. But now neither government or nature can give enough but what we think it’s too little. Those old boys in the Fall of the year, if they could gather in a few pumpkins, potatoes and some corn for the winter, they were in a thanking mood. But if we can’t gather in a new Buick, a new radio, a tuxedo and some government relief, why we feel like the world is agin’ us.” DT #2594, Nov. 28, 1934

Have you seen all the apologies from major newspapers (the NY Times and Washington Post received Pulitzer Prizes in 2018) and TV networks for headlining the Clinton-funded Steele Russian-Trump Collusion story? Did you hear that James Comey, Andrew McCabe, John Brennan, James Clapper, Jake Sullivan, and Congressman Adam Schiff called former President Trump to beg forgiveness?

No, we haven’t seen or heard any of that although the investigation by special counsel, John Durham, implies they should retract the stories and apologize.

According to the Durham ongoing investigation (which should have been completed two years ago), the entire ‘Steele Dossier’ that conclusively tied the Trump campaign in 2016 to Russia was an elaborate $10,000,000 scheme funded by Hillary Clinton with full cooperation from FBI leaders and the CIA director.

This isn’t the first time political shenanigans have swayed an election. “I give you the real inside dope on our hired help in Washington. I know more scandal than a White House cook.” (Oct. 4, 1925)  Even though these shenanigans failed to get Clinton elected in 2016 (barely), with the ensuing Impeachment trials and continuing accusations about Russia, China and Ukraine, Trump was defeated in 2020.

In Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse is about to conclude, 500 National Guard troops have been activated to protect the city from a potential riot. Oddly, the accused and the victims are white. If he is found not guilty, who will be rioting? And why?  Let’s give the Governor credit for being prepared this time. If he had called in National Guard and police reinforcements immediately to stop the original riot in August 2020, the city would not have suffered $50,000,000 in damages. And no one would have been shot by Kyle Rittenhouse.

Prices increased 6 percent in October for goods and services. Is that any surprise? We have 3 million fewer people working (including truckers, pilots, and workers in factories and the oil and gas business) and trillions of dollars given to people to spend because of Covid. Don’t you agree that more dollars chasing fewer goods causes prices to increase? (see second quote below)

The Climate Summit ended in Scotland without any major changes from China or India. Everybody flew home except for Greta Thunberg who is probably sailing back to Sweden. President Biden personally demonstrated his commitment to “wind power” to Prince Charles’ wife, Camilla. He never mentioned the human contribution to the level of methane in the atmosphere.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Honor in politics is just as much lost as John W. Davis’s platform of ‘honesty’ was in 1924… In politics practically everything you hear is scandal, so a thing has got to be mighty scandalous to be worth repeating.” Life magazine, Oct. 12, 1928

“What this country needs is more working men and fewer politicians.” WA#95, Oct. 5, 1924

(I attempt to write with Will Rogers’ style and philosophy, poking fun at issues and political decisions. As an agricultural engineer I also try to offer solutions and apply common sense.)