To Protect and to Serve
The biggest threat to America right now is not the Russians or the Chinese.. Its the villainization of the police force by our politicians and our media. I asked you all to save the RANT from a few months back that said the "Experts are wrong" and we'll be able to walk around without masks by Memorial Day. (Which I am happy to say is coming true).. So, here is another prediction.. and not a good one..
Police forces in major US Cities are quitting or retiring at record rates. In NY, more than 5300 officers retired or quit in 2020 which was an increase of 75%. NY is not alone. A public safety crisis is coming and it's coming soon. They cannot find recruits. Who would want that job after the way Mayors treat them and prosecutors and activist judges put the criminals right back on the street.
You want to see the outcome? Just look at Baltimore. The politicians threw the police under the bus when Freddy Gray died in custody. (Freddy with 28 priors arrests ..) Baltimore has trouble hiring officers. The crime is out of control. There are "un-patrolled" streets with signs that SAY that.. The only way to attract more officers at this point would be to significantly raise pay. (The OPPOSITE of de-fund.. Ya think THAT is happening???) ... This is what is coming to NY and other major cities that do not back the police.. heck.. in Portland its ALREADY HERE..
CENSUS REPORT. The 2020 Census (results delayed due to Covid) is out! The migration away from high tax states will cost them seats in Congress. Losing a seat: CA, NY, IL, PA, OH, MI and WV ... Texas gains TWO seats and FL, CO, MT, OR, and NC gain one.
Of course, this could change the majority in the House.. You can expect a bunch of "redistricting wars" at the state level and "gerrymandering claim law suits" .. Can you imagine if the State of NY "redistricted Queens" and Alex O'Cortez was removed from Congress because her district was gone? (No, I'm not predicting that.. but anything is possible) .. The reapportionment takes place for the 2023-2025 election cycle.
RECALL: The petition to recall CA Governor Newsom has 1.5 million confirmed signatures and will move forward. There are a LOT of issues that have people angry at Newsom. Handling the pandemic (and not following his own mandates), fires/power companies, homeless camps on the streets in LA, crime, riots, ....and on and on..
SCOTUS: The Supreme Court decided yesterday to hear New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett. This case involved the right to carry your gun. The SCOTUS has decided and backed up your right to keep a gun in your house. They have yet to hear a case involving, "right to carry". Many states have liberal laws concerning carry. NY is VERY strict. The only approve permits for those that can prove need. (A woman with an ex convicted of domestic assault, for example). NY approves almost NO permits The case will likely be heard in the Fall and you can BET it will be all over the papers.
In Da Swamp:
When a news service declares a story a "bombshell" report.. I usually yawn.. It's an overused expression. The stories are usually not shocking.. and they are usually not REALLY that significant. Well... I read a BOMBSHELL report. Now, the fact that John Kerry did something stupid isn't THAT shocking.. but the level of stupidity is this time..
In a recording that recently came public, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif discussed how John Kerry as Secretary of State for President Obama, gave Zarif classified data about how Israel had attacked Iranian targets in Syria, 200 TIMES. Not only is this a disaster for current US/Israel military relations. But, it REALLY makes current Secretary of State, Blinken's job harder in the Middle East. All this while there are nuclear negotiations going on in Vienna with Iran and a bunch of our allies. WHAT A MESS !!! Of course, Kerry denies the story..
Tuesday RIPs... S-A-TUR-DAY NIGHT !!! RIP to Les McKeown, 65. Former singer of, "The Bay City Rollers" .. RIP to Hip Hop star Greg "Shock G" Jacobs, 57. Best known for the "Humpty Dance" ... RIP to Jim Steinman, 73. Jim wrote A LOT of songs you know including most of Meatloaf's "Bat out of Hell" album, Celine Dion's "All coming back to me" and Bonnie Tylers, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" ...
SPORTS:
MLB: Shoehi Ohtani started last night .. It is the FIRST TIME since BABE RUTH (June 13, 1921) that the current MLB Home Run leader started a game at pitcher. He got rocked in the first inning, giving up four runs. Then threw 4 solid ones striking out 8 (including 5 in a row) and retiring 12 of 13 batters... At the plate? He stepped up in the second inning and ripped a 2 run double then scored on a Trout single. Ohtani is batting .300 and his ERA is 3.29 ..
GOLF: PGA: Valspar this week in Florida... and the Euros are still in Spain..
NBA: CP3 goes off and ends the Knicks winning streak at 9 games.
CELEBRIDIOTS:
Respect the Art not the Artist. ..
You've probably heard that a few times in your life.. and I think it applies to Hollywood a much as ever, now. Last year's Oscar ratings were an all time low. 23.6 viewers down from 29.6 million viewers. This Year? 9.85 Million viewers. and a 1.9 rating in the 18-49 age group (The one advertisers pay to reach). I HOPE this is telling the world what I have been saying for years. Ignore these hypocritical dolts.
Go watch the films.. Listen to the story the director is telling you.. take in the way the Cinematographer is showing you nuance... appreciate the performances you are seeing.. Go see it on the biggest screen you can instead of watching Netflix.. That's usually the way the filmmakers are hoping you'll watch their work.. .. But, when an actor takes the stage and tells you that you're evil for not driving a Prius (while they fly a Gulfstream V) .. or if you don't wear a mask while sitting alone at your kitchen table that you're the Devil himself.. Well.. turn off the TV.. and ignore them... for good..
Who's that Girl? Its JESS ... HONEST .. Here comes Jess.. Jessica Alba ..HERE.. (alright.. alright.. fine.. that's from 15 years ago.. gimme a LITTLE literary license.. GEEZ) .. anyways.. Jessica Alba co-founded "Honest Corp" to make baby products (and now other stuff) without bad chemicals.. They are planning a $1.5 Billon IPO.. So YOU can get a piece of Jess !!! ..HERE .... Well.. of her company, that is...
Maxim is giving us a list of "Influencers" that are something like personal trainers .. So, let me ask you, "Would YOU do what they told you? ..HERE.. I mean.. in order to get in shape?.. or.. out of FEAR??
From SeekingAlpha.com
The next round of Big Tech earnings is coinciding with a milestone for the Nasdaq Composite, which has returned to record levels for the first record since February. Reopening plays saw tech stocks lag behind other sectors this year, like financials, industrials and energy, though growth names could be in for a bigger comeback as the market heads higher. "Strong breadth measures suggest stocks still may have more upside," said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial. "While valuations are elevated, they still appear reasonable when factoring in interest rates and inflation." Overnight, Dow futures held steady, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 inched up 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. Tesla (TSLA) reported a record quarterly profit after Monday's closing bell (see below), while Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) will release their Q1 results today. Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) are scheduled to report tomorrow, followed by Amazon (AMZN) on Thursday, and analysts are already weighing in on the action and what to look for in the days ahead. Technically speaking: "We did see last week the loss of short-term momentum broadly behind the likes of these mega-cap tech stocks. And I think that that tells us we could see a pullback to their breakout points, that would apply to both Alphabet and also Microsoft, both of which had nice breakouts," wrote Katie Stockton, managing director of Fairlead Strategies. "These breakouts do have bullish intermediate-term implications but in the short term, there's about 5% to maybe 8% room to 50-day moving averages so that to me is a little bit uncomfortable." Watch guidance: "I am still heavily invested in the names like Facebook, like the Apples and all the names that I have been in. However, I am cautious and have trimmed some just because of the substantial amount of gains that I've had over time," added Kourtney Gibson, president of Loop Capital. "It's less about earnings right now in my opinion and what happened in the first quarter and more about the guidance, whether formal or informal, that we get out of these companies to help us as we look through to the third and fourth quarter of the year." No quick judgments: "Google has had a pretty nice move. It's up 30% this year. It's really been a fantastic performer. I think there's more to go but it’s the type of name that if it doesn't raise guidance, perhaps it'll pause," said Karen Firestone, CEO of Aureus Asset Management. "Just because the stock goes down 1% or 2% after they print the quarter doesn’t mean you give up. It just could be that we've anticipated a lot of good news from Google over the past few weeks, and that, you know, maybe the investors have to absorb the new numbers that come out and then it can start to move again."
Regards,
Roger “Raj” Searing rajsearing@gmail.com "Raj Searing™”, "Read this First™", "@rajsearing™", "TheRantRoom™" and “TheRantroom.com™” are Trademarks of RRRAJ, LLC. All Rights Reserved-2003, 2008.
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This RANT is intended SOLELY as Commentary, Satire and/or Social Criticism and is for ENTERTAINMENT. Content in this RANT is based on PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION and is purely the OPINION of the writer. It is NOT intended to be relied on as fact. Some of this information is garnered from well respected news sources and some is not. (In fact, sometimes I get drunk and make stuff up. It's usually about me dating hot women.) Raj warns all readers: If you cannot tell that most of this Rant is just my opinion then you are too stupid to be reading it!!!!
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