October 29, 2021

If the Earth were the Titanic and the Iceberg was CO2 levels...

After striking the Iceberg, China keeps putting the Titanic in reverse and striking the Iceberg repeatedly.

Europe is using buckets to throw water overboard and the US is spending billions to slow the flow with sponges from the gashed hull.

And this is why:

https://e360.yale.edu/features/despite-pledges-to-cut-emissions-china-goes-on-a-coal-spree

Despite Pledges to Cut Emissions, China Goes on a Coal Spree

China is building large numbers of coal-fired power plants to drive its post-pandemic economy. The government has promised a CO2 emissions peak by 2030, but the new coal binge jeopardizes both China’s decarbonization plans and global efforts to tackle climate change.

During the Congress, air pollution returned to Beijing with a vengeance, hitting the highest levels since January 2019, as the economy hummed out of the pandemic. Steel, cement, and heavy manufacturing, predominantly backed by coal power, boosted China’s carbon dioxide emissions 4 percent in the second half of 2020 compared to the same pre-pandemic period the year before. At the same time, the goals in the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan on energy intensity, carbon intensity, and renewables were hazy as well, little more than vague commitments to tackle carbon dioxide emissions.

Coal remains at the heart of China’s flourishing economy. In 2019, 58 percent of the country’s total energy consumption came from coal, which helps explain why China accounts for 28 percent of all global CO2 emissions. And China continues to build coal-fired power plants at a rate that outpaces the rest of the world combined. In 2020, China brought 38.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired power into operation, more than three times what was brought on line everywhere else.



Let's repeat this.

In 2020 alone, China built 38.4 gigawatts of Coal Fired Power Plants online... MORE THAN 3X that of the entire world.



Bottom line:

I wish people would stop talking about "Tackling Climate Change" or "Fighting Climate Change" or other vapid empty promises.

We're on track for 1000ppm CO2 by 2100 which means palm trees in the Arctic Circle.

How many Teslas do you think it takes to cancel out the CO2 emissions of a coal fired power plant in a year?

?itok=W57BtpJB

October 27, 2021

The law allows the RICH to "lock away" money...

It's done all the time.

Let's take a look at an example.

So you're filthy rich. You have a hundred million in the bank and don't know what to do with it.

Well... you call up Goldman Sachs and become one of their Private Banking Customers.

You deposit $100M and GS invests the money, take more than 1% a year BTW for their "hard work" and on average... they return around 11-12% annual returns.

So... $100M sits there, untouched, untouchable as GS brokers move it around between TSLA, APPL, SPY and MSFT or whatever, looking for consistent gains over the year.

That $100M might generate $10M a year in income for Mr. Rich. So the $10M is taxable (at a lower rate than the Doctor making $450k a year in income) but the $100M "seed money" is safe and sound, outside the reach of the IRS.

And the more money they PARK, the more investment income they receive.

How nice.

Money that is "outside" of public circulation does VERY LITTLE if anything for the general population

October 27, 2021

Hey Politicians... OPTICS!!

So billionaires are off limits... but low income Americans are now under higher IRS scrutiny?

Imagine the campaign ads featuring the single mom or retired Grandma selling homemade candles at the Farmers Market 2 weekends a month getting a knock on the door from the IRS...

YES everyone should pay taxes BUT increasing scrutiny and alerting the IRS specifically to those who move $10k a YEAR through an account is asinine

And what's it say when even the Democrats, the force for "Fair Taxation" can't even reach into the pockets of 700 US Billionaires... not even a little?

Sometimes it seems like GOP Campaign Advertisement Executives are writing legislative proposals to make the most outrageous ads for 2022/24.

October 27, 2021

Who pays Corporate Taxes?

It's a great topic.

FWIW, as I've opined here previously... increased Corporate Taxation is NOT the way to get into the pockets of the wealthy.

October 25, 2021

Trump's new media venture could make him billions

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2021/10/23/trump-billions-meme-stock-spac/119075800/

News this week that the former president’s nascent media enterprise, Trump Media & Technology Group, is planning to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) has sent retail investors into a frenzy, even with few details released. The stock gain drove the implied value of the new venture to more than $8.2 billion.

Based on figures from press releases and filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, it appears Trump will own more than 50% of the combined company. At its current value, that would make him the richest he’s ever been, up from his estimated net worth now of $2.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.





He just tripled his net worth in a week... anyone still not in favor of a wealth tax on unrealized gains?

October 21, 2021

Hat tip to DU for the fast LBN... I just made $11k off of the MAGATS.

So yeah... I'm an active market trader, mostly options but some day trading mixed in.

Caught the Trump Social Media/SPAC merger announcement and opened up Robinhood and saw it at $12/share.

Bought 300 shares and watched the ticker... sold at nearly an $11,000 profit.

LMFAO...

Now to go donate to the DNC to figuratively "wash my hands"...

Somewhere there's a mouth breathing double digit IQ slug holding the bag for my new cash...

October 19, 2021

The definitive explanation re: Executive Privelege and Trump

https://today.law.harvard.edu/can-donald-trump-still-assert-executive-privilege/

Former Obama WH Counsel Neil Eggleston...

To summarize it,

The law is clear and Biden CAN release the records BUT Trump CAN sue the archivist and after the lower Court throws out the case, he CAN and WILL attempt to have SCOTUS hear the case. Eggleston believes they will refuse to hear the case BUT they may not...

October 13, 2021

Biden and the DEMS need to prepare for political fallout coming soon...

Heating Bills this winter, costs at the pump, cost at the grocery store...

Monitoring 90%+ of Americans bank accounts...

Possible 2022 recession...

This all leads to crushing defeats in 2022 and 2024.

Call me a political opportunist but I'll take that label.

How about stimulus checks targeted to the low income folks to help pay for increased costs?

How about temporary suspension of Federal gas taxes?



Maybe people just aren't aware of what may be coming. If the GOP message of "Inflation is Taxation" is propagandized with Joe's "No one under 400k will pay more..." and Christmas gifts failing to arrive in time and $5/gal gas and $400 heating bills and an actual recession materializes...

Remember, I think it was Rachel Maddow (or Don Lemon?) who in 2016 compared the election to a temper tantrum.

If all these shitty things line up it will make 2016 look irrelevant..

October 12, 2021

Remember "Titanic" movie? "The pumps only buy us time..." and Climate Change

The Titanic was gutted by the iceberg. Water was pouring in. The flow couldn't be stopped and the Titanic WOULD sink... the pumps merely bought time.

What do you do with time when the ship is sinking? You prepare the guests and crew, you launch lifeboats (assuming you have enough) and you contact nearby ships for assistance.

Right?

EV's, Solar Panels and Electric lawn mowers and running your appliances at night only buy us time.

One, the sheer amount of CO2 already in the atmosphere is sinking our "ship". Two, the gash in the hull keeps getting wider every time China, India and developing countries build a new coal fired power plant.

Responsible countries will drastically cut back on their CO2 emissions but it's laughably inadequate.

Our conversation needs to change.

There is no "Stopping Climate Change" or "Cause the waters to recede..."

It's a done deal.

Mitigation is nice, but it's time for preparation. We need a Presidential Commission to start planning a USA that will still function and thrive in a future that looks much different than today.

Ideas? Ok, how about improving the power grid with a multitude of mini-nuclear energy plants like Bill Gates discussed in his recent book (A++ I might add)

We're going to need a lot more power for EV's and air conditioning and such things. Have scientists map out where the productive farmland will be in 50-80 years.

Prepare diplomatically. Canada will be a coveted piece of land in the future, as will the Taiga in EurAsia...

Change how we live. Mega-Cities will be needed. Car-less modern cities, efficient and green, positioned in places that will be OK in the future.

But how to start? Literally half the country refuses to believe the Titanic could sink... she's unsinkable, right??

To quote from the movie. "Oh she's made of iron, sir. I assure you she can and she will sink"

October 12, 2021

Everyone should pay their taxes, even low income earners. Having said that, want to lose 300 Seats?

For fuck sakes...

I know that the right will exaggerate the new IRS data reporting requirements. In fact, Politifact is already debunking GOP claims about it.

However... the very idea, the notion of increased scrutiny of lower income Americans is unbelievable.

Want to scrutinize the single Mom who sells homemade candles at the Farmer's Market? Your dog walker? Maybe the student who makes logos on Fiverr?

We talk a lot about bringing Billionaires to heel and creating a more FAIR tax system and then we do shit like this...

I'm sorry... it's bad optics.

And bad optics lose elections.