It's Dangerous Out There!

I used to travel a lot on business.

I averaged a plane a day for nearly 5 years.  I was the sales manager, the world was my territory, and I lived on planes.

But at the end of the day, when I'd arrived in tomorrow's city and I was all set to go, I'd sometimes try and find a nice bar to visit.  Grab a cocktail or two, maybe have a snack, watch a little TV, relax, and perhaps attempt to find some feminine companionship.  

And whatever might reasonably ensue from that.  Ahem.

But whereas finding a nice babe in a bar is starting off with two strikes, it's still a worthy effort.  How else are we expected to keep divorce lawyers fully employed unless we continue getting drunk and making stupid choices?

Have you ever wondered why they make it so dammmed easy to get married, and so terribly hard to get a divorce?  And so expensive?  

Remember what they say, "alimony is the f--king we get for the f--king we got!"    

Funny.  Not funny.

Anyway, trying to find an attractive babe with whom to share a drink or two in an airport hotel bar at 9:00 p.m., is always fraught with danger.  But never moreso than right now.  That's because millions of us have adopted transgenderism.  As in, putting on a dress and some lipstick and pretending to be a woman. 

BTW, I stopped trying to "drink them pretty" in the Army.  A part of my storied past, no matter what anyone says.  

But back in the '70's before I found my forever wife, the "chase" was a lot simpler.  A LOT simpler.  Back then there were the men, you see, and there were the women.  Only two choices.  As we were taught in biology class.  The concept of 57 genders had yet to be adopted by the State of California.  And however many genders in Illinois.  And New York.  And Oregon.  And another dozen Blue States.  

CA had begun doing really stupid things, but disavowing science wasn't yet one of them.

Those professing what we now call "an alternate lifestyle" had yet to do so.  People kept their sexuality to themselves, because that's where it belongs.  Kept all private like.  They did not wear it on their sleeve, or on both both puffy sleeves and a skirt.  And most assuredly they did not advertise it, unless they were in "that part of town."

Back then we had gay folks to be sure.  The guys who liked guys, and the ladies who went for ladies.  However we did not have millions of transgenders pretending to be the opposite sex.  Those afflicted with gender dysphoria should have an avenue for relief.  Unlike those who've transitioned in order to gain an advantage.  Like the "men" who've managed to steal more than 900 college scholarships from women.  But millions of others are so good at it you cannot tell from a distance with whom you are dealing.  

Which brings me back to the bar.  A dimly-lit bar.

Just imagine you're in a nice airport hotel lounge, and there's a nice looking babe at the other end of the nice bar.  And you think to yourself, why not offer that nice babe a drink?  Since you're on your second, you don't hesitate to head right on over.

Except when you get there you find out it's not Donna but Don, and he just might proceed to take you apart, limb from limb.  Which brings me to my Recommendation of the Day:   

Maybe it's best to confine oneself to church socials when we go out hunting from now on...

"Uncle Sugar"

There are 195 countries on Earth.

Plus two "unofficial" countries, the Vatican and Palestine.  Which was never a country, and never will be.

We, the U. S. of A., trade with 135 of them.  We trade some 600,000 products across the world, and pay a higher tariff on 60% of them than we charge.  That means we pay the exporting country more than they pay us.  And that leads to a net trade imbalance.  Of hundreds of billions of $Dollars.

Today is "Liberation Day," as Trump calls it.  The day when we are supposed to seek "parity" with all those countries who've been screwing us across the decades by imposing "reciprocal" tariffs upon them.*  Tariffs which are supposed to level the playing field.  And because there's been so much confusion about tariffs among the uninformed, I thought I'd try and bring more light on the subject than heat.

Remember, I am a graduate economist.  And although I'll comment on anything, including stuff I know absolutely nothing about, it's glorious to actually know enough to have taught this subject.  So you can "take this to the bank," as they say.

But first, a little history.

I recall my Dad bitching and moaning about how we were spreading our money all over the globe instead of taking care of "America First."  That was post-WW2 when rebuilding war-torn countries was paramount.  We got into the habit of giving to anyone and everyone who needed a hand.  And we haven't yet been able to kick that habit.  Dad called the U. S. "Uncle Sugar."  For good reason.

Learning just how much of a trade imbalance we suffer is often hard to discover.  That's because countries try and hide those numbers, and so does our "Legacy Media."   But these are some of the best numbers I can find for FY 2024:

     -  Canada:  -$63.3 Billion.

     -  Mexico:  -$171.8 Billion

     -  Ireland:  -$86.7 Billion

     -  Germany:  -$84.8 Billion

     -  China:  -$295.4 Billion

     -  India:  -$45.7 Billion

     -  Vietnam:  -$123.5 Billion

     -  South Korea:  -$68 Billion

     -  Japan:  -$68.5 Billion

     -  Taiwan:  -$73.9 Billion

These are just a few of the countries who are eating our lunch.  Both literally and figuratively.  Trump thinks by imposing tariffs on "them" equal to those charged to "us," we can bring in upwards of $600,000,000,000 (with a "B") a year.  Which we can apply to our Federal Debt, currently standing at almost $37 Trillion Dollars.  

Did you know the interest we currently pay on our Federal Debt equals almost $One Trillion Dollars per Year?  More than we pay to fund our Defense Department ($887 Billion)?  Trump thinks it's time to do something about it.  I agree.  Do you?

As an example, these are the import tariffs Canada currently imposes upon America:

     -  Milk:  270%

     -  Cheese:  245%

     -  Butter:  298%

     -  Poultry:  238%

     -  Eggs:  163%

     -  Barley:  160%

     -  Wheat:  94%

     -  Sugar:  265%

     -  Rice:  150%

     -  Peanut Butter:  295%

     -  Vegetables:  100%

     -  Fish Products:  100%

     -  Metals (Steel, Iron, Aluminum):  25%

     -  Tobacco:  100%

Any wonder now why we can't sell milk, butter and eggs into Canada?

It's the same story with Mexico.  The people building cars in our plants down there are paid $3 an hour.  The United Auto Workers in our Country require an average of $48.50 per hour.  Any question why it's cheaper to build cars in Mexico than in Detroit?  And why it's more profitable?  That should all soon change.

The idea of tariffs is to protect products and industries in your country from imports less costly to make than yours.  Canada's been doing that, as you can well see.  And Mexico, and Japan, and China, and South Korea, and all the others.  And they're squealing like a stuck pig over our having finally found out.  And that we're finally, FINALLY doing something about it.  Are we their friends?  Yes.  Are we their "Uncle Sugar?"

President Trump says "No."  

*   Note:  All items manufactured on American soil will be tariff-free.  Zero tariffs.  Which is what these actions are supposed to attract.  To force manufacturers to come on home.  More revenue, more jobs and more taxes generated.  And more American wealth.  Put a businessman in charge and get some sanity back into the way we run our Country.