Inconvenient Truths (8/26/26)

When They Filled in the Skate Parks

Trust in America Died

In April of 2020, San Clemente, California, dumped 37 tons of sand into a skate park to keep teenagers out of it. Other California cities followed suit. Up the coast, sheriff’s deputies arrested a man for paddleboarding by himself in the Pacific Ocean. Cities unbolted basketball rims. The mayor of Los Angeles told people that “snitches get rewards” and, people began calling the tip lines on the neighbors whose grandkids came over. Gavin Newsom violated his own Covid-19 protocols and enjoyed dinner at The French Laundry.

The sand, the arrests, the missing basketball rims, the rewarded snitches, and the elite hypocrisy explain a lot about where we are as a nation, including things that look like they have nothing to do with Covid, like data centers and Flock cameras. Trust is broken in America. It took generations to build and a few short years to destroy. Our current situation makes Watergate amusement.

In March 2020, Americans did as they were told. People closed businesses, local governments closed schools, and families canceled funerals. They waited for instructions from their elected leaders and public health officials because those officials said we needed two weeks to stop the spread. People generally trusted their institutions. Civic trust is a limited resource in a free nation. The press, politicians, bureaucrats, experts, and elite violated that trust until it was gone.

The virus came, the data came, the virus mutated, the data changed, and the people in charge did not.

Not only did we know where the virus came from, we knew early on that children were not meaningful vectors for spread. Yet, the bureaucrats, the politicians, and above all, the teachers’ unions kept the schoolhouse doors closed anyway. Parents, forced to be home with their kids, saw how atrocious our public education had become, and students, after being shut out of schools, clearly regressed. Masks were obviously not stopping the virus, but the army of mentally deranged progressive women harassed people for not wearing masks and did not stop until masks morphed into a virtue signal. Even today, get on a plane to any progressive enclave and you’ll notice a pattern of who still wears masks.

But...Character is not a partisan attribute. Americans have done this to themselves by electing a lot of characters without much character, choosing to trust those people because of partisan labels next to their names.

A government that fails to distinguish citizens from noncitizens, refuses to prosecute fraud, uses the legal system against its perceived enemies, and does not incarcerate violent offenders is not seeking public trust. It is testing the public’s willingness to swallow lies.

Let's be clear...both tribes now simply ignore the laws they do not like.

This well-earned distrust has now spilled over to AI and its data centers. And to Flock cameras vital to supplementing undermanned law enforcement. The results will be catastrophic, if America gets AI wrong. We may never recover because China is moving full steam ahead.

The only answer is transparency, facts, truth shared with all. But is that even realistic? A good start would be enforcing laws already on the books. Even the inconvenient ones. But politicians in both parties, coastal elites, big Tech, and corporation profits are formidable obstacles. Sadly we have become an ignoble society, if we are a society at all.

Criminal in the Skies

If you want to have night tremors about flying watch the Netflix documentary about Boeing Aircraft. It's called FREEFALL. It is truly shocking. When the people who build the plane refuse to fly in it, something untoward is definitely up.

See this and you'll never fly a Boeing 737 Max again.

Over decades, the company repeatedly neglected quality assurance processes and ignored employee warnings in the interest of profits. As a result, hundreds of people died.  The evidence of management's dereliction is breathtaking. And yet a whole string of CEOs (all from Jack Welch's GE) went unscathed while taking home $ millions and millions.

Lately, I have been ridiculing those who claim capitalism is the root of all evil. After watching this documentary, I won't be so altruistic.

Ain't No Joke

Donald Trump's public proclamations aside, we have serious military deficiencies, which must become priorities.

1. Interceptor Missiles: Our inventory is dangerously low. Our supply chains are inadequate both in terms of replenishment rate and quantity. Yes we can finish Iran, but what then?

2. Our Navy: From monstrous carriers down to the dozens of other ships who supply, escort, and refuel. We need to open another shipyard or two...yesterday.

3. Missile Defense: We need the Golden Dome. A state of the art, satellite based missile shield.

4. Modern Weapon Technology:. Space-directed, drone, missile and robotics-based.

Don't forget we don't just "take care" of the US. The rest of the free world depends on us too.

Meanwhile, Soft on Everything

Immigration...National Security...Felony Crimes...Military Readiness.

Democratic Socialists...soft in the head too!

Woke 2.0

Woke 1.0 was based on the premise America was racist. Woke 2.0 is based on the belief capitalism is evil. Watch out Jesus...you might be next.

Democrats Are...

A Bunch of Rich People

Convincing Poor People

To Vote for Rich People

By Telling Poor People

That Other Rich People

Are the Reason they're Poor

Think about it. Makes sense.

(Courtesy of a CME Subscriber)

The New Covid

Every time electricity or water bills go up in price it will be blamed on Data Centers, you watch. The new Covid.

Field Goals on Steroids

The NFL's new K-balls are making one's own 35 yard line "field goal territory". The new balls, especially for kicking, are on the juice. Chiefs kicker, Harrison Butker, just nailed a 69 yarder.

How long before we see a touchback followed immediately by a field goal? I know the League wants more scoring but c'mon.

Don't Believe What You See

This is worth repeating.

Remember all the hullabaloo about the starving kids in Gaza? The horrific pictures in All the News Unfit to Print? Media said it was all the doing of those heinous Israelis shutting down humanitarian aid?

Well...as reported, if there was any diversion of food or medical supplies to the region it was not at Israel's hand. It was Hamas warlords seizing the goods, then reselling to Gaza inhabitants through brokers with huge markups.

Turns out, even with that, Gaza, with its 0.5 per cent malnutrition rate, is one of the lowest in the region.

On July 22, a UNICEF-led team measuring hunger in Gaza uploaded presents its most comprehensive analysis since war broke out nearly three years ago. The report, titled “Gaza Nutrition SMART Survey Result,” revealed a stark reversal from the declarations made almost exactly a year ago that a dire famine was ravaging the war-torn territory.

Fact is... children in Gaza suffer impaired growth and development as a result of poor nutrition at less than half of the region’s rate. According to the latest report on child malnutrition published jointly by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank.

The team’s presentation also revealed that Gaza now faces a new challenge: obesity and excess weight. Sounds like the "groceries affordability problem" we have in NYC.

For the record...Neither UNICEF, the WHO nor the World Bank are fans of the US or Israel, so it's not like they'd be giving us the benefit of the doubt on matters such as this.

What Alternative Universe Are We In?

Previously we reported on the widespread practice throughout our indoctrination (aka education) system of excusing poor student behavior and academic performance by placing blame on neurodevelopmental disorders. ADHD being the most prominent. In far too many schools, the explosion in school psychologists, woke and other counselors, has decided that kids themselves are really not to blame for anything.

Well, looks like that may be spilling over into mom-hood. Undoubtedly, you have read about the Lindsay Clancy case. Lindsay is the mother who killed her three children because, allegedly, she suffered from postpartum psychosis.

Now a network of TikTok moms, mommy influencers and mom bloggers has coalesced to form solidarity with the child murderer. A cadre of overwhelmed and overmedicated Moms have unified to lend credibility to the absurd diagnosis that Mother Clancy was "not really responsible" for her unimaginable actions. The "Me Too Lindsay" crowd is bent on painting Clancy as some kind of martyr.

It's official. It's time to excise the word "accountability" from Websters.

Even having Kids is along Party Lines

Recent stats indicate that self-proclaimed liberals are eschewing child bearing at a rate much greater than conservative-minded peers. Self-identified conservatives average 1.4 children per family while liberal parents have only 1.09 young 'uns.

Why? Hard to say. Could be anxiety over world conditions, now called doomism. Or maybe a distaste for America? Or do liberals just like vacations more? Yeah... it's the latter.

Where the Surge in Antisemitism Comes From...

Pew Research Center polling shows 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents hold an unfavorable view of Israel, up sharply from 53% in 2022. Our best ally - not just in the Middle East, but anywhere.

"Only Consequential Presidents Get Shot"

Leave it to Trump to come up with a zinger when asked if he worries about being assassinated.

Smithsonian Off the Rails

A few weeks ago we reported on pollution of the nation's most famous museum. Swerving to the left, the Smithsonian has consistently focused its exhibits to reflect political and, even more so, activist positions. I didn't know this but the Smithsonian also has "affiliates" around the country. They've followed suit.

Nearly 25 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Smithsonian affiliate in Michigan continues to use its 9/11 exhibits and anniversary programming to focus on discrimination and government actions in the attacks' aftermath, while giving less attention to the nearly 3,000 people killed that day.

The museum features an exhibit arguing that Arab Americans "suffered two-fold as a result of the tragic events of September 11th," both from the attacks themselves and from what the museum describes as unfair treatment by the U.S. government afterward. Since its founding, the museum has repeatedly hosted programs examining what it describes as discriminatory consequences of the U.S. response to 9/11.

Everywhere you turn attempts can be found to drum home the "America is racist" message and poison our nation and, particularly our young, that America is unworthy of patriotism.

Another Thing to Worry About.

If you follow the world's greatest investors you are likely aware of Warren Buffet's love affair with owning insurance companies. You see insurance companies generate lots of cash through premiums. Historically that cash has been invested in very conservative assets. Like bonds. Because, after all, it is the reserve against future claims.

Buffet went a different route. Obviously with great success. He invested in stocks and bought other businesses with premiums collected. Again with great success.

Well, I'm seeing more and more reports that others have followed suit. Bought insurance companies and their mountains of premium cash flow. Turns out there are growing concerns that investment of these reserves against future claims are being invested in riskier and riskier assets. No doubt with less skill than the Oracle of Omaha.

A Touch of Promising News

The U.S. is experiencing one of the steepest and most widespread crime declines in modern history.

The U.S. violent-crime rate plunged 9.7% in 2025, the largest annual decline since FBI national estimates began 90 years ago.

• The murder rate fell 18.5%, tying 1955 and 1956 for the lowest rate since national estimates began.

• And the decline hasn't stopped: violent crime in big cities fell in the first half of 2026.

  
  

Criminologists describe several overlapping forces that seem to be driving the drop:

1. Vice consumption cooled: Pandemic-era spikes in alcohol consumption and illicit drug use have receded.

2. A return to routine: COVID lockdowns disrupted community guardrails and displaced young men and teens. Employment and social routines have since stabilized.

3. A law enforcement tech boom: Police departments are using more AI tools, predictive analytics and platforms such as Palantir's Gotham to deploy resources and identify criminals. Like Flock cameras.

Of course, no one gives credit to the law and order Administration that's been in office the past two years.

Swoosh Goes Whiff

More on Nike's reward for being Woke...

The "premier" sports apparel giant has lost 78% of its market capitalization in the last 5 years.

Go woke, go broke. Still listening McKinsey?

Maybe Nike's a buy?

Time for a Laugh (hopefully)

A man walks into a bar with a bag and orders a drink.

After awhile, the bartender asks him, “What is in the bag?”

The man says, “Nothing, don’t worry about it”

The night continues and the bartender keeps asking but the man keeps giving him the same answer.

Towards the end of the night the bartender offers the man a free beer if the man shows him what is in the bag.

The man agrees. He reaches into the bag and pulls out a tiny piano and a tiny man that sits down and starts playing the piano.

The bartender says, “Wow! That’s amazing! Where did you find they guy?” The man looks up and says, “I have this magic lamp that grants me wishes, but the stupid thing is broken.”

The man then hands the bartender the lamp and says, “You can try it if you want.” The bartender happily grabs the lamp and wishes for a million bucks and the room is suddenly filled with a million ducks.

“This thing is definitely broken!” says the bartender.

The man replies, “Tell me about it, do you really think I wished for a twelve inch pianist?”