Category: Uncategorized

President Biden’s immigration policy is working magnificently. A record 260,000 immigrants were counted and sent into the country in September. At that pace, the president can claim an additional 3,000,000 potential future Democrats this year as he gears up for the 2024 campaign.

So, let’s imagine a possible outcome of the future envisioned by the Biden Administration. Twenty-five years from today, October 1, 2048, Venezuela President Carlos Hernandez frantically calls our President, Juanita Perez, with an urgent plea.

See, President Perez is the fifth Democrat in a row since 2020 to be the U.S. President. The U.S population has ballooned to 850,000,000. A new third party, the Libertads, finished second in the 2044 election, dropping the Republicans to third place.

What does the Venezuela president ask our President Perez?

Does he want help plugging old oil wells? Does he need more corn? Is he asking the U.S. to build a railroad across the Caribbean? No, none of these. Instead, he is pleading, “Madame President, will you please send a few thousand Venezuelans back home. Way back in 2020, we had 30 million people. Now, we have only 20. Not 20 million, 20! Here I am the President of a vast country, and only me and 19 others are left!”

Add Honduras, Guatemala and several other countries losing people in droves to the U.S. and this 2048 tale doesn’t seem so farfetched.

Back to reality, this week California Senator, Diane Feinstein, died. The former mayor of San Francisco (1978 to 1988), Feinstein was elected to the Senate in 1992 and was the longest serving woman.

The vacancy presents a quandary for Gov. Newsom. He announced months ago that if she resigned or died, he wanted to replace her with a person who matched the previous senator and current VP, Kamala Harris. But he’ll have a difficult time finding a California woman whose dad is from Jamaica and mom from India. Plus, she must have an unusual laugh that irritates Republicans.

Seriously, announcing a commitment to select a person of a particular race and sex, whether Republican or Democrat, is shameful. In the U.S. Senate, America deserves the most qualified persons available. We already have enough barely qualified members of Congress elected by misinformed or uninformed voters. When a governor is given the opportunity to name a Senator, pick the best one available. Problem is, the best ones often don’t want to deal with the hassles.

With the bribery charges facing New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, Governor Murphy may have a similar opportunity. Of course, he would name a Democrat. But not likely one who stashed gold bars in a bedroom closet.

The Federal Government shutdown was avoided, at least for 45 days. A “Continuing Resolution” was passed by Congress and signed by President Biden, but only because it increased spending. Cutting spending was hopeless. Like millions of federal employees, I spent time preparing. I wrote a couple of paragraphs about the perils of a shutdown that I’ll hang onto until the next deadline. Or the one after that.

Meanwhile, with or without a shutdown, farmers across the Midwest are starting to harvest corn. Last year the average price was about $6.80 a bushel. This fall they’ll get about two dollars less. Yes, that’s down. But $4.80 is not a bad price until you read the Successful Farming magazine headline, “With inflation, $4.80 a bushel is the new $4.00 a bushel for corn.”

I wonder what the inflation rate is in Venezuela.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “Say that Venezuela is quite a country. They have a fellow [dictator] named Gomez… and he really runs it.” DT #1477, Apr. 17, 1931

“Funny thing about being a U. S. Senator, the only thing the law says you have to be is 30 years old. Not another single requirement necessary. They just figure that a man that old got nobody to blame but himself if he gets caught in there.” DT #2770, June 21, 1935

“There is two things that a dumb guy knows as much about as a smart one, and that’s art and inflation.” DT #2114, May 14, 1933

Which hot political and economic topics would you like to read about today?

High inflation and the resulting higher mortgage costs and lower house values. President Biden’s growing disapproval ratings. Overwhelmed and overloaded sanctuary cities complaining about illegal immigrants. Republican Congressmen who can’t agree on a budget. The UAW and Hollywood Writers strikes. The United Nations infatuation with climate change. Donald Trump’s plan to skip the second Republican Presidential debate to concentrate on winning 4 trials. How to dress a Senator.

How about “None of the above?”  Yeah!

Instead, how about if I talk about farming innovations and football victories? Yes!

The Farm Science Review, presented annually by Ohio State University was last week.  We had perfect weather which helped attract over 116,000 participants to check out “what’s new” from 700 exhibitors. Demonstrations in the field included innovative futuristic equipment. You know about drones being used in our military. The 5 drones demonstrated here operate like a helicopter and cost about $35,000. They can apply crop protection chemicals and spread cover crop seeds. With mounted cameras, they can spot problems in crops and be used on ranches to check on cattle, determine forage availability and water supply.

You also know about driverless cars. A driverless tractor was programmed to mow an entire field after the boundary was established and any obstacles, such as trees or electric poles, were mapped. The autonomous tractor can also pull a tillage implement or a planter.

An autonomous irrigation machine was demonstrated in corn. The 3-wheeled, high clearance machine can run (very sloowwwlly) through tall corn, with no damage to the crop. It irrigates with water or liquid manure, covering 32 rows (80 feet) per pass. Dairy or swine manure adds nitrogen to increase corn yield.

New combines harvested corn and soybeans. One combine header for soybeans was 62 feet wide (30 feet is common today).

The goal, whether it’s with new machinery, improved seed genetics, plant protection chemicals, biologicals, or grain handling and processing, is to make farming more efficient and profitable, and keep food a nutritious bargain.

Moving on to football, this was a memorable weekend. For a special birthday gift, our son and daughter took me to a Cleveland Browns game. The weather was perfect and the Browns beat the Tennessee Titans 27-3.

On Saturday night, Ohio State beat Notre Dame in a classic thriller, 17-14. The Buckeyes scored a touchdown, barely reaching the goal line, with one second on the clock. And earlier, my alma mater West Virginia University beat Texas Tech 20-13. The Will Rogers statue on the TTU campus in Lubbock may be “dressed” in black today.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“(a farmer) has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” WA #57, Jan. 13, 1924

       “You got to do more than just live in the country to be a Farmer.” WA #196, Sept. 12, 1926

      “Dr. Wilce, the Ohio State coach, just showed me their new stadium, seating 100,000, built by hard study and excellent scholarship. They can seat 200 students to every book in the university.” DT #139, Jan. 14, 1927

      “Poor Knute Rockne [Notre Dame coach]! In his time he has lost games by bad umpiring, illness, failure to kick goal, and every ordinary known method.” DT #1348, Nov. 18, 1930

      “Well, here we are in the famous Notre Dame. You know why these kids can play football?… here you are either studying or catching forward passes. There is a great spirit that makes this such an institution.” DT #2635, Jan.15, 1935

Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced an “inquiry” to see if Republicans can uncover any concrete evidence that President Biden should be impeached. Now in case you’re concerned, an inquiry is as far as this will go. As the president himself responded concerning Impeachment, “Lots of luck.”

The inquiry will verify some connections between Hunter Biden’s accumulation of wealth from China, Russia, and Ukraine.  Does anyone believe he would have been paid over $20,000,000 from 2014 to 2016 if his dad was not Vice-President? We may learn where the money was deposited in bank accounts for nine Biden family members, and why Joe Biden used three fake email names.

But impeachment is off the board because Speaker McCarthy knows that no matter what juicy evidence is verified, the House won’t vote for Impeachment. Clearly, the Democrats in the Senate would never convict President Biden.

The United Auto Workers are on strike. Considering the high inflation, and recent raises for other unions, does anyone doubt the UAW deserves higher wages? But does anyone who plans to buy a vehicle in the next few years want the labor rate to go up 40%? Or for them to work only 4 days a week with 5 days of pay (an additional 20% raise)? Other demands are directly related to the pressure on the manufacturers to push Electric Vehicles.

A main argument favoring the UAW is that Electric Vehicles require a lot less labor to manufacture and many workers will lose their jobs if Democrats in charge achieve their goal of eliminating gas-powered vehicles. This brings up a logical question: if labor costs for an EV are far lower, why is the price $10,000 to $15,000 higher than a gasoline powered car?

This week, Tuesday-Thursday, you can find me and about 120,000 others at Farm Science Review, located near London, Ohio. If you want to see the latest in technology to improve our food production system, you’ll find it here. Equipment will be displayed. Other machines will be harvesting corn and soybeans and tilling the ground. Drones will be flying. And you might even see an Electric-powered farm tractor. Details at: fsr.osu.edu/home.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“In Europe Public men DO resign. But here it’s a lost Art. You have to Impeach ’em.” Life magazine, June 7, 1928

“They will never impeach this baby [Oklahoma Governor Murray]; he’s too slick for ’em.” DT #1413, Feb. 2, 1931

“Lots of times individual strikes when they are just, and conducted along fair lines have won their case, and they should, for manufacturers have associations for their mutual betterment, and there is nothing fairer than workmen having unions for their mutual benefit.” WA #608, Aug. 19, 1934

How much do you know? This is not a quiz. There will be no grade or ranking at the end.

Have you read or heard these statements below? Do you agree or disagree with them, one by one? What was the source? (Answers at the bottom)

1. President Biden has done more to secure the Mexican border than any other President.
2. President Biden has created more than 13 million jobs as President.
3. Our public education system is the best in the world.
4. The only existential threat in the world is climate change. Not nuclear war. Not China.
5. Bidenomics has reduced inflation, increased real wages, and made some medicines more affordable.
6. We’ll build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up and the top one percent will pay for it.
7. Joe Biden has never discussed any foreign business with his son Hunter.
8. Joe Biden has never participated with Hunter in any foreign business.
9. Joe Biden has not received a dime from Hunter’s business dealings.
10. Former President Donald Trump is guilty of insurrection for the January 6, 2021 invasion of the Capitol.
11. Expansion of solar and wind energy systems will make electricity more affordable and dependable and employ everyone laid off from fossil fuel jobs.
12. Hunter Biden and the Biden family collected at least $20,000,000 from foreign entities while Joe was V-P.
13. Over 7 million immigrants have entered illegally since January 2021. They have received free transportation, housing, food, health care and education for youth in border states and sanctuary cities across the country.
14. Plant-based food must replace beef, chicken, and other meat in our diets to solve global warming.
15. On Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden and other radical Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia, a major oil supplier, attacked the USA.
16. Twenty-two years later, on Sept. 11, 2023, President Biden will fly to Alaska to effectively eliminate Alaska as a major oil supplier.
17. On Sept. 12, Alaska will ask Congress for permission to negotiate a return to Russia.
18. The Cleveland Browns expect to win their first Super Bowl this season.

In case you need help with the sources, #1 to #11 are statements made by President Biden or his spokespersons. #12 was testimony to Congress, under oath. #13 is from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The remainder are my own observations, or foolish opinions (#17, #18).

Historic Quotes by Will Rogers:

 “A fool that knows he is a fool is one that knows he don’t know all about anything, but the fool that don’t know he is a fool is the one that thinks he knows all about anything. Then he is a dam fool.” DT #325, Aug. 7, 1927

“If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.” WA #31, July 15, 1923

Has our climate changed? Yes! If climate hadn’t changed you wouldn’t find seashells on a mountain in Utah. If climate hadn’t changed, we wouldn’t have a hundred million acres of prime farmland south of the Great Lakes (they wouldn’t exist either). If climate hadn’t changed, President Biden couldn’t enjoy the hot sand at Rehoboth Beach because his house would be fifty miles from the coast.

Have you noticed that President Biden won’t comment on any disaster (except gun violence) unless he can blame it on climate change? The wildfire that wiped out most of Lahaina, Hawaii (killing over 100 people), forest fires in the Northwest, and a hurricane in Florida got his attention because he claims they were caused by a change in climate. He is waiting until a speechwriter comes up with a way to blame train derailments on global warming before he visits East Palestine, Ohio.

I’m not saying the President is old enough to remember the Ice Age, but anyone in national politics for fifty years should know that forest fires, hurricanes, floods, droughts, blizzards, and volcanos were a common occurrence long before Henry Ford mass-produced the Model T.

It is widely recognized that the United States contributes only 15% of the global warming gases. Do you really believe if we totally stopped burning fossil fuel, the climate would stop changing? The President’s admonitions about global warming should be directed at China and India. Now, if we want to assist poor countries, let’s help them import liquefied natural gas (LNG) and build pipelines so they can stop cooking and heating with wood, crop residue, and cow dung.

I read in the paper that we have racked up the highest credit card debt in history, over a Trillion dollars. It’s not that we bought more stuff or traveled more than a few years ago, but inflation has caused prices to rise 15 to 25 percent. Pay more, get less; the opposite of prosperity.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“(Herbert) Hoover, (didn’t) go out to play Golf… Hoover, being a great Red Cross man, he picked up a few Tornadoes and Hurricanes to kinder help fill in his spare time, and now and again a flood to sorter keep his hand in feeding the destitute. The first thing you know he had made himself so valuable at it that it looked like we couldent have a Calamity till he could get there to handle it. A lot of Calamitys that would have happened, we had to hold ’em off just on that account, for the man was booked up.” How To Be Funny, Jan. 19, 1929

      “We’ll show the world we are prosperous if we have to go broke to do it.” DT #413, Nov. 18, 1927

      “(on Prosperity) You will try and show that we are prosperous, because we HAVE MORE. I will show where we are NOT prosperous because we havent PAID for it YET.” Life magazine, August 9, 1928

Inflation is down to less than 4%. Sounds pretty good, but because of severe inflation starting in January 2021, prices are still 15 to 20 percent higher. They are higher on food, gasoline, medicine, electricity, rent, mortgages, hotel rooms, car rental, and about everything else we depend on. Because of inflation, real wages are down about 3%.

President Biden finally acknowledged the “Inflation Reduction Act” was misnamed. You and I knew it even before it passed. It was mostly a “Green Energy” bill and it increased inflation, not reduced it.

Here’s what I wrote in Weekly Comments last year on July 31. “Only in Congress can a bill that will increase inflation be called the “Inflation Reduction Act.” Senate Leader Chuck Schumer has been hammering two fellow Democrats, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, for more than a year over their refusal to increase spending and raise taxes. Last week Manchin caved.”  (The vote was 50-50, with VP Harris breaking the tie.)

Sen. Manchin wasn’t the only Democrat tricked. If the bill had been honestly titled, a few others would have refused to support it. And guess what: without the Inflation Reduction Act, we would have had less inflation!

The President says inflation is going lower. But there’s a surge on the horizon. Have you seen the increases in pay being negotiated by labor unions? Immediate increases of 10% to 20% are common. Auto workers want a 40% increase. Raises for delivery truck drivers, warehouse workers and airline pilots guarantee higher prices. Now, we don’t blame the workers. Inflation is to blame for huge requests.

I may need to replace my Ford F-150 in 3 or 4 years so I better start saving. Ford is losing Billions on Electric Vehicles, even with all the subsidies from us taxpayers. Does that mean they have to raise the price on gas and diesel models to make up the difference?

Meanwhile, the largest U.S. electric-bus maker, Proterra, declared bankruptcy. The company failed despite personal enthusiastic promotion by President Biden and VP Kamala Harris.

With these problems emanating from DC, and details about the Biden bribes, is it any wonder the most popular song today is “Rich Men North of Richmond?”

(No Weekly Comments next week.)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

(on U.S. Senators), “We pay for wisdom and we get wind.” DT #574, May 29, 1928

“Republicans said if the Democrats got in they would inflate money, and the Democrats swore they wouldn’t.” DT #2095, Apr. 21, 1933

Many college students spend their summers working as interns for businesses. That gives them “real world” experience they can’t get in the classroom. Many professors every few years spend a few months working for companies in their field so their teaching is up-to-date.

Now, suppose government employees had a similar opportunity. How might that change their views when they return to their government position?

Consider a few examples:

Environmental scientists in EPA work three months for an oil company, a highway construction contractor in West Virginia, or an Oklahoma cattle ranch.

Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas and his top officials spend a month as Texas Rangers along the border with Mexico.

Energy Department leaders work as a sales person at a Ford or GM dealer in Montana or Iowa. How many EVs could they sell?

Food scientists in the FDA harvest vegetables in California and apples in Michigan.

Education Department Ph.D.’s spend nine months teaching math and science at high schools in Baltimore, Chicago, or Columbus. If they survive the year, their salaries on return to Washington will depend on the progress of their students.

Prosecutors supported by George Soros work a few weeks as a security guard or clerk in a local CVS or Nordstrom that gets looted every day or two.

California Legislators who voted to force pork producers in other states to change their “best practices” go to work on hog farms. Their job would be to make sure that each of 50 sows would not smother or otherwise harm any of her 10 to 12 new-born pigs.

Federal prosecutor and newly named Special Counsel David Weiss would switch to defense attorney …wait, he already did that with the Hunter Biden sweetheart deal.

I’m sure you can suggest other “switches” that might help our economy.

I was going to suggest that the 535 Democrats and Republicans in Congress switch parties for a couple of months. But they would get so discombobulated nothing would pass, and the federal debt would keep getting worse.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

      “There is nothing as stupid as an educated man if you get off the thing that he was educated in.” WA #445, July 5, 1931

Are we looking at a Jailhouse campaign in 2024? Donald Trump will be behind bars. Joe Biden will be visiting Hunter behind bars.  At least that’s the dream of the opposing sides.

President Biden is way behind on fundraising for the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign. Lounging on a Delaware beach instead of answering questions at frequent press conferences does not inspire many donors to add to their credit card debt. Especially for a president who would be 86 in 2028, or possibly replaced by V-P Kamala Harris.

With another indictment by Jack Smith, Special Counsel for the Department of Justice, Trump has to spend his campaign funds on defense lawyers.

Trump insists the 2020 election was stolen, not on election day, but in the months leading up to the election. Considering what we know now, candidate Joe Biden received millions of votes based on blatant lies: he never discussed business with Hunter; Hunter never took any money from China; Hunter’s laptop computer was a Russian conspiracy as verified by 50 top level Intelligence officials; and he never received any money from Hunter’s business dealings, not even 10 percent.

Devon Archer testified to Congress on Monday. He has been in business with Hunter Biden for about 10 years and recalled at least 20 phone conversations between Hunter and his dad while Joe was Vice-President. President Biden calls his grandchildren every day, so it’s logical he also called Hunter frequently.

I’m guessing one of those phone calls might have gone like this:

(V-P Biden calls Hunter): “Hello Hunter, how’s the rehab going today?”

Hunter: “Excellent, Dad. In fact, I’m sitting at a table with a couple of Chinese executives discussing a multi-million-dollar deal.”

V-P interrupts: “Whoa, Hunter, you know I can’t discuss business with you.”

Hunter: “I know. In case anyone is listening, we’re only interested in weather. My Chinese friends are wondering if I can perhaps influence the weather in Washington. They are willing to pay me $5,000,000 if they know the weather will be suitable for their business.”

V-P: “Ah, the weather! Yes, I can talk about weather. You can assure your friends that the weather is fine. And it appears to me that the weather here will continue to be fine for them.”

Hunter: “Thanks Dad. My friends are smiling and nodding in agreement. They are extremely pleased to hear about the long-term weather. (pause) Wow, they just handed me a check. (pause) And they are so happy with your weather report they are writing another check.”

V-P: “Hunter, congratulations on your recovery. I’m glad your friends expect to see sunny skies ahead. And Hunter, c’mon man, (whispering) be careful out there. Don’t do anything that might rain on my parade.”

We learned this week that China got military secrets from a Navy Seaman for $15,000. Do you wonder what China got for $10,000,000?

You may be wondering why I didn’t write anything harsh or funny about Donald Trump’s legal problems. Well, I decided not to risk it after reading his threat on Trump Social, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you.”

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Being great as President is not a matter of knowledge, or farsightedness; it’s just a question of the weather.” WA#196, Sept. 12, 1926

A big surprise in Delaware. Hunter Biden did not escape with a slap on the wrist for a felony charge after all. Federal Judge Maryellen Noreika did what all of us are advised to do: before signing anything, read the fine print. She uncovered a tiny paragraph in a secondary document that would have freed the President’s son from any future charges against him.

Hunter then admitted he received over $600,000 from a company owned by Communist Chinese. Add that to the millions his partners claim he received, and you start wondering what Hunter did to earn that money while his dad was Vice-President. Was he secretly farming 5000 acres in Iowa and selling them soybeans? Could he have been manufacturing transmissions in Michigan for Chinese cars? Or did the Chinese get something more valuable from his dad and President Obama?

As soon as that News came out, the Justice Department announced an additional charge against Donald Trump and his employees at Mar-a-Lago. This was to provide the TV Networks and newspapers a choice of which News to cover. Lately, it seems they feel compelled to pick a side, and ignore the other side.

And Friday evening, while everyone was pre-occupied, President Biden whispered to People magazine that he has a new granddaughter. And she’s already 4 years old. He did not say whether she would be visiting the Biden mansion on Rehoboth Beach during his August vacation.

Tomorrow, Devon Archer, a long-time business partner of Hunter Biden’s, is supposed to testify before the House Oversight Committee. Republicans and Democrats on that committee will be just like the TV Networks: pick one side and ignore the other. On one side, the Justice Department has ordered him to report to prison for stealing $60 million. The other side emphasizes that he worked with Hunter and has personal knowledge of Joe Biden being a key part of that business.

It is doubtful the Biden Family will rise to the level of power and scandal of the political machine in New York known as Tammany Hall. But it’s possible we may learn that Joe Biden’s influence over 50 years in politics has enriched his family almost as much as William “Boss” Tweed enriched Democrat cronies (and himself at least $100 million) while he was boss of Tammany Hall.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

     “… with Tammany Hall, when [Franklin Roosevelt] threw out a sheriff that had been ‘hoarding’ the city’s money for ’em personally. Why, that will boost his stock in the [states]. Even if Tammany was to change and get respectable, the world wouldent believe it.”  WA #481, March 13, 1932

Country music singer Jason Aldean is being crucified by city folks for a song, “Try That in a Small Town.” The song describes crimes that criminals usually get away with in cities.  But in small towns, “we take care of our own; you cross that line, it won’t take long for you to find out.”

The video with the song drew complaints because it includes news footage of the riots in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, plus videos of other crimes. Oddly, an image of a Tennessee Court House featured in a Christmas movie is controversial. Critics would prefer the video feature serene views of cattle grazing, kids playing baseball, and families going to church.

Most of us from out in the country or in “small towns” relate to this song. In 2020, we watched with disgust as stores were looted, buildings and police cars were burned adding up to over $2,000,000,000 in damages in big cities. And police and average citizens were prevented from responding. (Oddly today, employees in big stores, like Lowe’s and Lululemon, get fired for trying to stop thieves.)

We were thinking, “If these hoodlums try this in our towns, in most states like West Virginia, or Oklahoma, or Wyoming, they will be stopped in their tracks.” But big cities did the opposite. Their police were verbally abused, spit on, and attacked. So, what was the result? New York City recently announced they are paying $10,000 to each of 1300 people affected by the riots. No, not 1300 officers. The money is going to 1300 rioters who were arrested during the 2020 protests.

In Washington this week, two IRS veterans testified to Congress that the Ukrainian company Burisma, was coerced to pay $10,000,000 to the Bidens, with half to Hunter and half to Joe. In return, then-VP Biden got a Ukrainian prosecutor fired. (In case you doubt that, Biden has bragged about getting the guy fired.)

To counter that damning news, and to give the mainstream media something to talk about, the Justice Dept announced that Donald Trump will go on trial next May (another trial will start in March). Georgia will probably announce another trial date, maybe around July 4, to fill in a gap before the Republican Convention. If found guilty in all 3 cases, Trump could be jailed for the next 500 years.

The people in Texas got upset with the hordes of immigrants crossing the Rio Grande River and illegally invading their towns and ranches. The state installed floating barriers in the river and a fence on the bank. The Biden Administration got frustrated that fewer illegal immigrants are making it into Texas and ordered the governor to remove all fencing and floating barriers. Their excuse for this order? Too many immigrants are drowning. Drowning?

Don’t be surprised if President Biden orders Texas to build a couple more dams to dry up sections of the river. Yes, they want a million immigrants a year to walk into the country without getting their feet wet.

Meanwhile, Mayor Adams of New York City announced the city is full of illegal immigrants and homeless people and can’t handle any more. He is imploring them to stay in Texas or go to other cities. You know, if I’m an immigrant why would I want to go to an overcrowded, crime-infested city when I could listen to Jason Aldean and settle in a small town.

In a surprise move, the President announced a reduction in federal spending. There will be no more money sent to China for “gain-of-function” research at the Wuhan Lab. Why did it take 3 years and a million deaths to make that decision?

All the writers in Hollywood went on strike May 2. Then the actors joined the strike; without writers the actors had no idea what to say. Now, I don’t blame them for striking because the “market” has changed. Young people today expect to watch everything on their phone or tablet for free. If nobody pays, that puts a crimp on the continuing payments called residuals. Viewers are eager for an agreement so they can stop watching reruns and old movies. Old timers in Hollywood will remember that up until 1960, writers and actors worked like most of us, getting paid an agreed-on amount monthly or when a project is finished.

Or they could do what Will Rogers did: “Most actors have some writer to write their material, but I don’t do that. Congress is good enough for me. They have been writing my material for years and I am not ashamed of the material I have had.” (WA #78, June 8, 1924)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“(To musical critic H. T. Parker) you unconsciously paid me a Bear of a compliment when you said ‘Will is a small town Actor.’ You bet your life I am small town. I am smaller than that, I am NO town at all, and listen, that is what I am going to stay is Small Town.” WA #160, Jan. 3, 1926

        “It was just a joy to see hundreds of the men that we read about all the time… for pretty near all of our big men are country or small town boys.” WA #358, Nov. 3, 1929