Pandemic Ponzi Moves

Although this blog focuses on the evil of donald trump and his administration, there are occasionally other evils in this world that need to be pointed out.  It has recently become obvious that bitcoin is one of these evils, as are most (if not all) other cryptocurrencies currently in existence.  Bitcoin is a scam that is capable of robbing a lot of innocent people of their hard-earned money.  It may have purchasing power today, but it is based on math and technology, which means if it doesn't evolve in a controlled manner, it will not hold purchasing power tomorrow.  If you think evil is too strong a word to use to describe bitcoin, consider that it is frequently used by criminals to buy and sell illegal products (i.e. drugs, as in the Silk Road case) and it is also frequently used to avoid government sanctions because of the anonymity that it grants.  For the benefit of both consumers and investors, we offer a few important facts about bitcoin:

1) Whereas national currencies, such as the US Dollar, the British Pound and the Mexican Peso derive value based on the full faith and credit of their respective nations, there is no nation, company, association or non-profit that guarantee that bitcoin has value

2) Cryptocurrency valuation, such as bitcoin, is driven primarily by their scarcity

3) Bitcoins are scarce because it takes complex mathematical calculations to mine a bitcoin and because only a fixed number will ever be created

4) Although modern-day computers can't quickly and efficiently mine enough bitcoins to make a person wealthy, quantum computing will be able to do this

5) When Quantum computing is leveraged to mine bitcoins at an unbelievably fast rate, bitcoins will quickly become less scarce

6) When any virtual currency is no longer scarce, it ceases to hold value either as a currency or as an investment

7) Quantum computing may also be leveraged to rob bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies via hacking, as there is no established quantum-proof cryptographic algorithm in existence to secure them

8) By not regulating bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies, the government is allowing the bubble to grow so large that it will have destabilizing macro-economic impacts when it bursts on its own

9) Traditional investments, such as stocks, bonds, commodities or savings accounts would be a better alternative than bitcoin for all investors who don't want to risk losing every dollar to their name

For the above reasons, please avoid bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies.  Don't get taken by this ponzi scheme.  Famous "sharks" Kevin O'Leary and Mark Cuban make some other good points about it.  Also, a managing director at UBS Asset Management says Bitcoin is worthless partly because anyone can make a new cryptocurrency at any time and NYU Professor and Economist Nouriel Roubini says bitcoin has a negative value due to its environmental impact.  The Bank of Canada has criticized it and regulators in the EU and Great Britain are ready to regulate it, which will ensure a financial hit.  In addition, Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary of the USA believes additional regulation is needed, so just avoid it.

As a fund manager has warned us, it could prevent society from functioning.

Pardon the Preference

What better way to put lipstick on donald trump's questionable rise to power in 2016 than to pardon everyone who broke the law to help make it happen.  That's the path we're on after trump issued the starting round of farewall pardons today.  There were some other calculated pardons as well and there will be more still, but the principal at work is that trump needs to paint himself as a winner.  Any loudmouth criminal who will sing his praises is worthy.  Also worthy are anyone that will help him in his attempt to nullify the constitution and the democratic process to maintain power, as well as hardcore partisans who will bolster trump's credentials among the far right and help counter the voices of reason (most recently, Pat Robertson), who are speaking out against trump and encouraging him to finally concede the election.

Across the world of law-abiding society, trump's actions are being criticized as going against the spirit of the pardon.

As trump always does, he arose from the shadows for the first time in a long while in order to conjure a distraction.  This time, the distraction was criticism of the Covid-19 relief bill that was passed by the House and the Senate and awaiting his signature.  Not everyone recognized it as a distraction, but all can agree that it was a stunt designed to make trump more appealing before he leaves office.

We knew this was coming.  trump told us so by his previous pardons, which were also lacking in any sense of justice.  Here's a reminder from Nicolle Wallace.

Don't be distracted by the waning days of this most anti-American, pro-Russian president.  He will be gone soon and he will be judged for at least some of his inhuman behavior.  Sleep well with confidence that we will soon be on the path to fixing what he has destroyed.

Appreciating the RGV

One of the strangest stories within the story of the 2020 election is that trump somehow convinced a large number of hispanics in the Rio Grande Valley that he was going to help them and thus they voted for him. Perhaps reversing this outcome and ensuring that republicans don't ever get the hispanic RGV vote again will not be that difficult. One only need to reenforce a few history lessons to the hispanic voters so that they realize how the republicans have been almost exclusively the party that has sought to either shut them out of society or force them to abandon their language and culture.

A unique characteristic of Spanish-speakers in the Rio Grande Valley is that, more than Spanish-speakers in other parts of the country, they often substitute English words in the middle of a Spanish sentence. While some appreciate the uniqueness of this spanglish, we can also wonder why they so often resort to English words when they are speaking in Spanish. Part of that may stem from a long period of history when Spanish was prohibited in public places and that is where the political history shows that the Democrats have had a much greater hand in allowing Spanish to be spoken in the USA and in Texas. Here are a few notable points to make:

1. Spanish-speakers in Texas would have fewer places to speak the Spanish language if it hadn't been for a Democrat named Dolph Briscoe, Jr who governed the state of Texas in the '70s and signed the Bilingual Education and Training Act. If it hadn't been for Governor Briscoe, hispanics would be penalized or fined for speaking Spanish in school, whereas today they're allowed to study in both English and Spanish. That wouldn't have been passed under a republican.

2. Earl Warren was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America when the Hernandez v. Texas opinion was issued by the nation's highest court. Previously, Warren was a Democrat who had served as the Attorney General for the State of California and then Governor of the State of California. In Hernandez v. Texas, Chief Justice Warren ruled that the Equal Protection Clause mandated that Mexican-Americans and hispanics could not be systematically excluded from serving on a jury. Were it not for this verdict, Mexican-Americans were guaranteed to face jury trials in which all jurors were white people. Thanks to Chief Justice Warren, the Equal Protection Clause was affirmed to defend not only the rights of African Americans, but also hispanics.

3. District Judge William W. Justice was a Democrat from Athens, Texas and was appointed to the federal district court in the Eastern District of Texas by then President and Democrat Lyndon Johnson. He ordered the State of Texas to desegregate its schools in the landmark case of United States v. Texas in 1981. This decision stopped the exclusion of hispanic students from attending school with white students.

Some further reminders of history may be warranted in the next election cycle. There are more points to make than just these few--please drop a line if you'd like to see an addition. If hispanics in the Rio Grande Valley were more aware of the history of their oppression, they would realize that republicans are behind most of it. We study the uniqueness of the Spanish in the Rio Grande Valley today, but there would be no remnants of Spanish there had the republicans been allowed to decide. Once in a while a republican comes along that tries to change the party's image by speaking Spanish, as George W. Bush did. However, the racism so ingrained in the republican party eventually shuts those voices out over the long-term. Let's spread the word to the hispanic voters in the RGV so they aren't fooled again.

Commander of Cowardice

The one thing that donald trump has managed to command during his nearly 4 years as Commander In Chief has been his own cowardice.  He has shown an amazing ability to display it in so many ways.  At the end of his time as President, trump continues to exhibit his cowardice through his fear of losing the power of his office.  He searches through his catalog of lies trying to find something, some dishonest tool, that will give him the power he so desperately craves.  None of these lies appear to be convincing enough to permit him to rob the American people of an election, no matter how much he wants his followers to believe that his defeat couldn't have happened in an honest election.

Throughout trump's 4 years, he has repeatedly triggered disaster after disaster for our government.  The disaster we're still living through is the lack of government response to a pandemic.  The confusing part about WHY there is a lack of a federal response is that it had already been well-thought and delivered to trump on a silver platter when he took office.  He just needed to read and follow instructions.  He didn't have to be creative.  He didn't have to think outside the box.  The thinking had already been done for him.  The Washington Post reminds us of this in an article describing the history of presidential transitions in the USA: