This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Hondo

  • Good Economic News? That Would Be a “No”.

    Well, the latest economic figures are out.  And as has been the case since January 2009, the numbers and trends . . . well, they suck.

    First:  the “official” unemployment rate declined last month – from 5.0% to 4.9%.  That’s good, right?

    Um, not really.  You see, the number of US residents employed actually DECLINED last month – even though the “official” unemployment rate also declined.  While approximately 43,000 people appear to have lost their jobs in October, it seems that that an additional 152,000 also simply quit looking for work during the month.  So though the number of people working declined, because of how the “official” unemployment rate is calculated that number “went down”.

    Yeah, that official “unemployment” rate is a wonderful measure of how well the economy is doing.  Today, 43,000 fewer people are working than the previous month, and 3x that many got discouraged and quit even looking for work – and the number shows “improvement”.  Go figure.

    As I’ve repeatedly said, a much better statistic to look at to determine the US economy’s performance is the labor participation rate.  That is defined as the fraction of the US civilian population that could work that is either working or looking for work.  And that measure DID DECLINE last month – from 62.9% to 62.8%.

    And in case you’re wondering, no – THAT decline is decidedly NOT good news.  What that means is that more than 94,600,000 people who could be working . . . aren’t.

    That’s the second-highest number in US history.  The highest number occurred earlier this year, in May.

    A labor participation rate of 63% or less is, to be blunt, an indicator that the US economy is in the freaking toilet.  Prior to the last several years of economic hard times, the last time the US labor participation rate was 63% or lower was during April 1978 – or 38 1/2 years ago.  That was during Jimmy “We Don’t Need No Steenkin’ Economy” Carter’s  Administration.

    The US labor participation rate was 65.7% in January 2009.  From there, it declined steadily to roughly 63% range, reaching 63% in November 2013.

    It’s been 63% or less ever since then – which means that the US economy has been absolutely in the crapper for a full three years now.

    It’s time to ask this question:  “Are you better off now than you were 8 years ago?”  I’m willing to bet the answer for virtually everyone is, “Oh, hell no!”

    And remember this:  if Clintoon’s elected POTUS next week, we’ll get at least 4 more years of the current Administration’s failed economic policies – or worse.

  • Equal Opportunity . . .

    . . . stupidity.  Gender-wise, that is.

    I wrote yesterday about the fool caught driving naked and “wired” (literally) down in Florida.  Well, today we apparently have the ladies’ response in kind, courtesy of what appears to be “selfie” video by a lady from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    Topless mystery woman the most distracting driver ever?

    “Loquita”, indeed.  (smile)

  • “Follow the Money.”

    We’ve all heard about the latest Clintoon email revelations.  Everyone’s probably also heard by now that the FBI has reopened their Clintoon email investigation due to a Weiner-related discovery.  (smile)

    But for Clintoon, that’s likely not her only potential major legal issue.  You see, it seems that the FBI has also been quietly pursuing its investigation of the Clintoon Foundation’s finances over the past year also – even though there appears to have been substantial pressure from the Department of Justice to either “slow-roll” or squash it.

    Indeed, the FBI’s investigation of the Clintoon Foundation is reportedly now “high priority”.  One media outlet has gone so far to cite FBI internal sources as saying that a pay-for-pay indictment regarding the Clintoon Foundation is now “likely”, “barring obstruction in some way” by the Justice Department.

    The FBI apparently isn’t the only agency investigating the Clintoon Foundation, either.  Turns out the IRS also is investigating the Clintoon Foundation – with focus on its tax status.

    Follow the money, indeed.

    Oh, and FBI sources also say with high confidence that Clintoon’s email server appears to have been hacked by at least five (!) Foreign Intelligence Services.  So it’s a virtual certainty that anything that was stored on that server is now in the possession of multiple foreign nations.  Nice.

    And while we’re discussing Clintoon email issues: it also seems as if both Justice Department and State Department officials were in contact with Clintoon campaign officials concerning the matter. State department officials appear to have coordinated with the Clintoon campaign concerning the department’s position on her use of “private” email before the matter was revealed to the public.

    Specifically, it appears as if the Clintoon campaign was provided an advance copy of a State department statement or press release on the matter – and both requested and got at least one change to the draft release before it was made public. It also appears that at least one senior Justice department official later tipped John Podesta, her campaign manager, that another senior Justice department official would be testifying before Congress shortly and was “(l)ikely to get questions on State Department emails.”

    Stay tuned.  The next few days – along with the weeks afterwards – could end up being one helluva bumpy ride.

  • “No Significant Voter Fraud”, Eh?

    Well, riddle me this,      Socialists      Progressives       Leftists      my liberal “brethren” – what would you call this little “escapade”?  (Emphasis added)

    Jerry Mosna was gardening outside his San Pedro, Calif., home Saturday when he noticed something odd: Two stacks of 2016 ballots on his mailbox.

    The 83 ballots, each unused, were addressed to different people, all supposedly living in his elderly neighbor’s two-bedroom apartment.

    “I think this is spooky,” Mosna said. “All the different names, none we recognize, all at one address.”

    To add insult to injury:  Mosna and his wife initially got the “run around” when they tried to report the matter to proper authorities.  They first contacted the LAPD, who referred them to the Post Office – who in turn referred them to the LA County Registrar’s office.  To their credit, the LA County Registrar’s office apparently took the matter seriously.

    Fox News has a story on the matter.  It’s worth reading.

    “No significant voter fraud” in America?  Yeah, right.  “No significant voter fraud” my ass.

    We seriously need positive voter ID laws nationwide.

  • Shocking.

    Provided without comment – except to say that it doesn’t seem to be anyone we “know and love”.  (smile)

    Police: Naked man drove in Boynton with wires attached to groin-area

    No word if the “fine fellow” was humming this tune while driving around wired. (smile)

  • A Quick Rundown on the Current Clintoon Investigations

    No, I’m not going to list the details – because it seems the UK’s Daily Mail has already done that.  You can read their rundown here.  It’s pretty decent.

    However, as a rundown concerning Clintoon sleaze it’s unfortunately quite incomplete.  It doesn’t even mention Bill “Have a Cigar” Clintoon and his adventures on the “Lolita Express” – or his past sexual “misadventures”.  Or the Whitewater matter.  Or on the White House travel office persecution.  Or apparent DNC dirty dealing connected to the current campaign.  Or a host of other questionable conduct by one or both Clintoons.

    Still, what’s there is quite . . . interesting – and hugely damning for those not wearing ideological blinders.

    Sheesh.  You or I would be in jail by now.  And we’d have been there for months if not years.

  • Four Soldiers Return from Korea

    DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US military personnel.

    From Korea

    • CPL Donald E. Matney, H Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 20 July 1950 in South Korea. He was accounted for on 19 October 2016.

    • MAJ Jack D. Griffiths, Headquarters, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 30 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 25 October 2016.

    • PFC Lavern C. Ullmer, B Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 30 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 25 October 2016.

    • SGT James E. Martin, I Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 3 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 18 October 2016.

    Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.

    Rest in peace. You’re home now.

    . . .

    Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

    On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here. The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.

    If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.

  • The Never Ending DRC “Groundhog Day” Saga – Episode 14

    Well, it seems I’ve been “exposed”.  Yet again.

    It seems the DRC, or perhaps a member thereof, thinks they know who I am.  Yet again.

    This time, a little birdie told me that they’ve “determined” I’m a First Sergeant.  And they’ve also “determined” that I’m assigned to an Army Engineer unit.

    Hmm.  That’s odd.  I don’t remember getting those assignment orders.  I think I’d remember something like that.

    I also don’t remember getting orders appointing me to be a First Sergeant in any Engineer unit.  I think I’d remember that, too.

    And I distinctly remember getting retirement orders some time back.  (Looks at file copy.)  Yeah, there they are.  Maybe I should check my ID card to be sure.

    (Looks at Retired ID card).  Yep, ID card confirms it – I’m retired.  Hmm.  So, how in the world did I get assigned to an Engineer unit as a First Sergeant?

    Gee, ya don’t suppose those      morons      fellows got things wrong yet again, do you?

    Well, yeah:  they did.  For at least the 14th time, they’ve had a collective brain fart and misidentified another individual as being me.

    Wait, scratch that. They’d actually have to have a functional brain to have a brain fart. Not sure they qualify on that score – even in aggregate.

    For the record: I’m not assigned to any Engineer unit; I’m a retiree. I don’t know this guy they’ve identified as being me – hell, I’ve never met him.  (I’m not going to name him here; he doesn’t need the grief.)  And I don’t live anywhere near his unit’s HQ, either.

    But nonetheless, the DRC claims that’s who I am.  And considering their track record here . . . I’m not surprised.

    Those fools couldn’t find their own butts with written instructions, both hands, two full-length mirrors, and a helper. It figures they’d screw up “finding” me one more time.

    . . .

    OK, obligatory recap.  This is at least the 14th time the DRC has Fornicated Fido and identified some individual as being me.  I’m pretty sure I’ve missed one or two of their bogus IDs along the way, so the real total is probably higher.

    They’ve been wrong every freaking time.  And they show no sign of getting any better with practice.

    For anyone interested, this article gives a brief description of their last erroneous ID.  This second article gives additional details concerning their other dozen “goofs”.

    I swear, I think I’m going to have to post them step-by-step instructions.  That’s probably the only way they’ll ever be successful at finding Hondo.

    But I think I’ve figured out something else about whoever’s doing this:  this song absolutely must be a favorite of theirs.  Kinda descriptive of their obsessive mind-set, IMO.   (smile)  (Warning:  lyrics around 2:15 and 5:43 may be  briefly NSFW/around prudes, children, or clergy due to language.)

     

     

    Footnote:  In case you’re wondering about the piano work on the song, that’s apparently Ron Argent’s handiwork.

    Helluva job, IMO. Really a pity he and the lads didn’t do more work together over the years.