Uganda for Next Vacation?

(Before starting, I would like to openly acknowledge the bias of this writer and, thus, this publication. I believe there is, on almost levels if one looks objectively and hard enough, a right and wrong side, a just and unjust one. And, yes, a good and evil side too. My "spins and slants" as well as the content itself in CME are based on my perception of what is common sense, clearly right and wrong, just and unjust. I make little attempt to offer counterarguments as I view most to be specious and disingenuous. But my bias is not based on ideology. It is based on common sense, what's good for the country and right v. wrong. So, here comes the bias!)

Uganda Here We Come.

Recently Zhoran Mamdani, Democratic Socialist front runner to become Mayor of our largest city vacationed at this family's estate in Uganda.

Funny enough another notorious personality might be headed there too. Remember Abrego-Garcia, the Salvadorean illegal accused of wife beating and human smuggling, who was deported by Trump's DHS? From the great state of Maryland. The one whom Maryland politicians traveled to El Salvador to visit in a show of "solidarity".

After much legal wrangling, Abrego, loving father and MS-13 gang member, was returned to the US for processing. Apparently he is to report to an ICE office in Baltimore today (Monday) and will be deported to Uganda because it's too dangerous in El Salvador. Didn't know Uganda was such a safe haven.

Fiddling While Rome Burns

While Washington obsesses over Ukraine and the Middle East, the Chinese Communist Party is building the most formidable military challenge the United States has faced in generations. Beijing is adding mass, reach and persistence across sea, air, missile, space, cyber and AI – while our armed forces are stretched thin, underfunded and mismatched for the threat.

Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to be ready by 2027 to take Taiwan. History suggests Beijing won’t wait for perfect readiness before acting. From Korea in 1950 to Vietnam in 1979, Chinese leaders launched wars despite glaring military gaps – because political calculation outweighed caution.

Today, the PLA’s arsenal is staggering: precision-strike rocket forces with 300 new missile silos, a navy of more than 370 warships, stealth fighters, artificial islands fortified with missile batteries, and a growing space and cyber force. 

Beijing now calls itself a "near-Arctic state," deploying "research" icebreakers near Alaska while investing in ports across the high north. These are not science projects but scaffolding for future power projection.

The greatest danger is not just China’s size – it’s the asymmetry. Beijing has designed its forces to exploit "salvo and attrition economics." A U.S. aircraft carrier costs $13 billion; China can build hundreds of long-range anti-ship missiles for a fraction of that. 

Our missile defenses are exquisite but limited in number; China’s barrages are designed to overwhelm them. While America spends decades producing a handful of fighters, Beijing churns out missiles, drones and frigates at scale.

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments warns this mismatch is unsustainable. Unless we dramatically expand munitions stockpiles, harden bases and disperse forces, we risk running out of weapons in the opening weeks of a conflict.

And Xi may not need to invade to succeed. The PLA already practices coercion below the threshold of war: daily air incursions around Taiwan, fishing militias that harass neighbors, cyberattacks, IP theft and relentless political influence campaigns. Each tactic erodes deterrence while avoiding open confrontation.

Rome is burning. China is not a distant, future threat – it is here and growing. We cannot afford to be distracted into thinking Ukraine or Iran is the main event. They matter, but they are sideshows compared to the pacing challenge of China. This is not political theater. This is hard core reality. This is the REAL issue with China - not tariffs and a trade war.

We must stop fiddling and start acting: surge investment into shipbuilding and munitions, harden and disperse bases, expand Arctic presence, and deepen alliances with Japan, Australia, India and beyond. We need to treat the Indo-Pacific as the central theater of our time – not an afterthought. Not easy to do when liberals want to pee away resources on illegal immigrants and handouts, then block every effort to invest.

Ridiculous Anti-Trump Penalty Tossed

A NY (that's right, the New York) tossed out the $500M fine against President Trump as being unconstitutional. You remember this one, right? State AG Letitia James ran on the promise, "I'll get Trump", then brought a bogus "civil fraud" case against Trump alleging he overstated the value of assets to lending institutions - sophisticated banks with robust due diligence resources.

Ironic, isn't it? DOJ is also investigating James for alleged mortgage fraud, including misrepresenting her primary residence on loans in Virginia and New York. She denies the claims and calls the probe a "revenge tour" for the civil fraud suit.

How Can Anyone in their Right Mind Condone?

A man whose son died during a 2017 fraternity hazing ritual at Penn State University warned students and parents of the ills of the practice in an interview with Fox News Digital, saying anyone could become a victim. 

Read this...

Jim Piazza's son, Timothy, was recruited to join the Beta Theta Pi chapter at the school in February 2017. He was invited to a bid acceptance party, where he and several other pledges were forced to consume a handle of vodka. 

They were then forced to drink more hard liquor before competing in an alcohol "obstacle course," which included "beer pong stations, and other stations where they had to drink varying forms of alcohol, wine bags, beer shotguns, that type of thing," Jim said. 

"After that obstacle course was completed, you could see in video all of the individuals, all the pledges were pretty banged up," Jim said. "Then they all went to the basement of this fraternity house and they continued feeding the pledges drinks. Different fraternity guys would hand them drinks and make them chug it and whatnot."

Soon thereafter, Timothy was moved to an upstairs couch where he was left alone. He attempted to open a door and leave the house, but couldn't given his level of intoxication. He then fell down 15 basement stairs, causing a brain bleed and a ruptured spleen. He suffered a lung collapse due to aspiration from his own vomit. 

Still, the fraternity members picked him up and returned him to the couch. "They threw him back on the couch and throughout the night they were slapping him, throwing alcohol on him, throwing stuff at him. And then finally, at about, you know, 1 o'clock in the morning or so, they all went to bed, and they left him laying there," Jim said. 

Timothy was found in the basement again the next morning, unconscious and unresponsive. Jim said fraternity members spent 45 minutes deciding what to do before they called 911. A little more than 12 hours later, Timothy died at Hershey Medical Center. He had alcohol poisoning from the incident, and the official cause of death was the brain bleed, known as a subdural hematoma.

Eventually the Fraternity's brothers and officers DID JAIL TIME plus fines. Twenty-one fraternity members were charged in his son's case, and estimates are they each spent about a million dollars on their criminal defenses. But, this is far from first example. Can you imagine the poor parents? Saving a lifetime and nurturing their child to attend a supposedly trustworthy university and then have this BS occur. Bad enough these uni's are teaching garbage, discriminating and fostering antisemitism.

Trump's federal crackdown in DC surpasses 1,000 arrests, 11 days without murder.

Monday update. If as DC Mayor Bowser says, "We have no crime wave.", how do you manage 1000 arrests?

Following the Law is Not Enough

Thanks to leftwing judges appointed by leftwing Presidents, there are an infinite number of laws on the books at the federal, state and local levels that just flat out make no sense. You can start with Sanctuary Cities that provide protection for people already breaking the law.

Put a bunch of leftie lawyers in a room and guaran - damn - teed they'll find a way to "follow the law" and do things that are harmful to hard-working taxpaying Americans. All the while currying favor with illegal immigrants, people who don't want to work and anti-Americans. Happening every day in red cities and states.

Saying you are "simply following the law", doesn't mean diddley squat any more.

Here's an example...

Police in Rhode Island’s largest city are in hot water with municipal investigators over their alleged presence and behavior at an immigration enforcement operation.

Providence’s External Review Authority, or PERA, found Friday that police in the Ocean State’s capital acted in violation of a city ordinance against cooperating with ICE while present at a July operation involving federal agents.

PERA found police "impermissibly assisted" ICE agents in conducting civil immigration enforcement operations," according to WLNE, which obtained a copy of the report.

PERA’s report claimed police wrongfully established a perimeter, gathered intelligence and generally aided ICE’s response to the pursuit of Honduran national and fentanyl trafficker Ivan Rene Mendoza-Meza.

Mendoza-Meza was listed as a "worst of the worst" candidate by ICE in a statement identifying him as a "documented MS-13 gang member" who goes by "El Negro."

Dastardly cops.

Heck with Woke

Southwest rolls out new conditions for plus-size passengers. New rules require customers of size to purchase additional seats before travel starting January 27. Go Woke - go broke. Ask Bud Light, Target and Cracker Barrel.

House Grier Built (Football Stuff so you can skip)

I like football as I am sure is very clear by now. I live in South Florida so the Dolphins are a logical choice.

When you have a team whose fans still talk about the 1973 team you pretty well know you have a problem., Ignoring a few ignominious wild card appearances this team has not played in a real playoff game since 2000. That's 24 years.

Well make it 25 after this season. Here's how I know. Las Vegas oddsmakers are right a whole lot more than wrong. The odds that the Dolphins will win fewer than 8.5 games is -200. That means you have to bet 200 to win 100. For those of you who don't bet - that is absurd.

That is what the "sharps" in Vegas think of the Dolphins chance of winning 9 games or more.

Chris Grier is the sad sack GM who has presided over this paradigm mediocrity since 2016. Almost a decade. Ridiculous.

So who's to blame? Well, first the owner, Stephen Ross to whom this is a high profile toy. But mostly WE, the fans. Take a lesson from Cracker Barrel. If somebody doesn't perform, tell them so with your pocketbook. I did. Owned Club Seats three different times since I moved to Florida in 1990. Each time saying...that's enough.

Crystal Ball

"Having a crystal ball" is slang for predicting the future. Perhaps as unrewarding a profession as there is. Well, I think there's a decent chance it may not be so difficult this time.

There seems to be little argument that technology, especially AI, will dominate both personal and commercial existence for the foreseeable future. Along with robotics (run by AI) lives will be changed, that's for sure. The internet certainly did. Remember naysayers predicted cloud computing would fail because it could never be made secure?

So, where will this lead and what will it mean?

AI will change the economic models of the world. Organizations that embrace it and optimize its use, will leave those who don't far behind. Industry needs will start "reengineering" education. Their demand for and willingness to reward graduates who excel at AI and its offshoot applications will dictate what kind of student universities turn out. As it should be. In the long run universities will have less and less to say about the instruction they offer. Simple supply and demand.

Jobs will also be reengineered as has been going on for decades. This time at the most furious pace ever. Those with AI-based skills will be in great demand. Those without tech knowledge and the ability to apply it will fall even further out of favor.

As a consequence, income disparity will accelerate. Job security and career paths will be disrupted. Those with tech knowledge and knowhow will be in demand. Those without it will be scorned. All coalminers cannot become coders, but the job pools for those without tech skills will shrink even faster than they are now.

As the gap between the haves (tech skills) and the have nots (those without) widens, this will become, as it always has, political fodder. It will become the mantra of those politician wannabes seeking to dethrone incumbents. I fear things will become even nastier, if somehow that's possible

So what to do? If you made your nest egg already invest it in spaces and companies at the forefront in embracing and optimizing AI. If you are still building that nest egg, take every opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills in AI-based applications. Even if the job you have now doesn't require it.

Pandora's Box

As we all know, Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem Works and Days. Hesiod related that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing curses upon mankind. The idiom has grown from the story to mean "Any source of great and unexpected troubles" or alternatively "A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse".

I fear the same thing may be happening now, if we are not careful. While 99.62% of what President Trump is trying to do makes perfect sense, is approved by the majority of voters and, when implemented, will be a net plus for America, care must be taken.

Despite our foibles, few objective observers would disagree that the United States has been - by quite a wide margin - the most successful system of governance known to mankind so far. Mistakes - plenty have been made. But just looking at GDP per capita, size and the desire of so many to gain access, America has been a success.

Much of this success emanates from the system of governance prescribed by the founding fathers and the principles they set forth. By and large, the system has worked far better than alternative versions. For this reason Trump must take care not to abrogate or otherwise corrupt its essential mechanisms and safeguards. Even when illogical, disingenuous opposition tempts.

For example, the Fed.

I know it is hugely frustrating when the left cares nothing about what is good for Americans and only for what might destroy Trump and give them another crack at power. Still, he, we must remember there will come a day when they do regain power. Hopefully not any day soon. And when they do they will use every loophole, every Trump precedent to bring us back to the mess that was Obama, Biden & Harris.

Be careful what you wish for and resist opening Pandora's Box.

Time to Talk Guns

By now we are all aware of the horrible tragedy in Minneapolis, where a transexual named Robin, opened fire in a church and killed several children from a Catholic school, who were attending morning mass. Many others were injured.

The existence of manifestos and social media posts from the assassin confirms that signs were there long before. Investigations are, of course, under way and the FBI has classified as a hate crime. Not hard to believe in the cesspool overseen by Tim Walz. (Aside, in Minneapolis there over 900 police officers on the force and in the streets in 2019. Now there are 500.)

Would it not be a good time for the Trump Administration to undertake (yet another) comprehensive examination of this issue? Even if it to put it to bed once and for all. I know Trump fears annoying his base, especially those wedded to the 2nd Amendment. But it would be a great gesture and a chance to take the high road. I have no doubt the Liberals would attack even this. But surely there must be two or three half-sane Democrats who would participate in good faith.

Final Nail in the Kennedy Coffin?

The election of JFK in 1960 was a grand time as I recall. The first Catholic President. Back in a time when most democrats were sane and most politicians were still more concerned about doing the right thing than ballot harvesting.

Ask not what you can do...

It seems the Kennedy legacy has fallen on hard times.

First Teddy drove off a bridge in Chappaquiddick and killed Mary Jo Kopechne (Mary Jo actually came from my home town). Then the Clan coalesced and did their best to cover it up. Even when most of the truth came out the deep blue state of Massachusetts didn't care and continued on with Teddy.

JFK daughter Caroline made a tepid run for US Senator in NY after Obama bought Hilary with the Secretary of State gig. Caroline quickly pulled a Kamala and withdrew before the band even started playing. Wonder why?

Then, Bobby Jr jumped ship and is now a cabinet member for the most heinous Republican President in history.

Which brings us to JFK's grandchild. Jack Schlossberg. Son of Caroline., A wealthy spoiled brat who has done nothing of substance in his life except go on social media and issue expletive-filled rants while insulting Republicans and Trump supporters. Recently he put on a wig and in a slavic-accent mocked First Lady Melania who wrote a letter to Putin reminding him of the Ukrainian children who have been kidnapped (for reprogramming) by the Russians.

Where oh where are you now Jackie and the Days of Camelot?

Have a nice weekend.