And the hits just keep on coming (health edition)

Last week, the uninformed idiot in charge of Health and Human Services (who banks on nothing but his name, and whose brain was apparently totally consumed by the brain eating amoeba), decided to tell us that some things are bad for us and we need to get healthy again.

Now I'll grant you that in general, he's right.  We have too much processed food, artificial dyes are bad, and generally we need to combat chronic illnesses.

But its the details that are at issue here,  He's telling everyone - from his position of power - that vaccines are bad (with nothing to back that up other than the voices in his head), and he wants to change how they are approved and distributed.

He's already given some hair-brained theory that the measles outbreak can be thwarted by making sure children have enough Vitamin A.  Which is dangerous, reckless, and stupid.  If only there was a very long-tested, effective, and safe alternative that essentially previously eradicated measles (but which some celebrity types decided to be vocal against) that we could use.... 

And then there was this week's photo op, and plea for a free meal.  He went on about how seed oils are bad, and some nut and vegetable oils, too.  And the science suggests that maybe he's right, so, please, do go on... 

He then proceeded to say that animal fats are good, and better than these other types of plant-based things.   Which the science does not support, but why does that matter?  The amoeba told him so!  

If you are moving away from animal products for personal health reasons, or you don't trust that the animal products we consume are safe, or perhaps you just care about animal welfare. then this is perhaps a little more egregious.  It feels like a nod to the cattle industry to a large degree.  

Anyway, the company Steak N Shake proudly announced that they would "make their fries RFKd"  and that prompted a visit from the man who sat down and had a burger and fries while being interviewed by faux news.  (his plea for a free meal paid off!)

The other side of this story is that Steak N Shake grew during the 90s and had many stores east of the Mississippi.   They touted themselves as serving "steakburgers"  and I would argue that they had a quality product.  But then, recessions hit, they changed their model to be more affordable chain to compete with the likes of McDonalds.  Their quality suffered, and they shuttered a large number of stores.  And recently they've been on the verge of bankruptcy.

But opportunity struck.  All they had to do was say they'd go along with what the guy said, and they'd get a ton of free advertising.  Sure, it might alienate some diners, but when you're looking for any hope, you take that risk.

Opportunistic company meet amoeba man!

The company may have bought themselves a little time, but their trajectory still isn't good.

No one actually wins here.  But yet, we all lose.

At least the memes were epic.  For example:

 

flori-doge?

Read an article yesterday about our governors desire to create a sort of doge to find inefficiencies. (like spending tax payer dollars on migrant flights NOT IN Florida-duh?) But the amusing part is that the legislature does not want this. 

They are Republican controlled and have been for about 30 years. Their fear is that the light will be shone upon their wastefulness and residents might not take kindly to knowing that things aren't so good BECAUSE of them.

It's almost comical. 

Watch "Why Tariffs Won’t Save Manufacturing" on YouTube

Truth. Love this. 

In short, its that tariffs don't actually help anything.  They shift problems and essentially make life more expensive for everyone.

The example of cotton is a good one.

https://youtu.be/cpqXHKKpGuI?si=_rlSgwHSPTz6hAlC

They saved how much?

The DOGE idiot is claiming $115 billion in saves! Amazing isn't it?

But there is simply no way that's true. Sure, trimming some costs here and there will help. And closing a few buildings can't hurt. 

But one of the biggest expenses that was saved on was labor. But let's do a little back of the envelope math. 

Let's say the average laid off worker (who may or may not be actually laid off) makes $100k a year. And let's suppose that 10,000 people were laid off. 

That's $1 billion in cost reductions (on paper anyway) for a year. 

Is he claiming it's more? Like a million federal workers? Huh? That would be half of all federal employees. 

It ain't adding up. 

And just for context, that $1b in savings amounts to just three F22 fighter jets or half of one B2 bomber. 

Maybe if you're looking for savings, you could find a similar amount in the military budget. Just saying. 

Our federal debt

Here's something submitted for your consideration. 

According to 

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S our current debt, as it relates to GDP is about 122%. Meaning that we are spending 22% more than we have. 

And that number is expected to grow to 166% by 2054 (source: 

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59711)

Which means we have a full on debt crisis looming. 

At present, some of our debt is bought up by foreign governments, but it's real money that essentially we owe them (with interest). 

As T-rump continues to trample everything in his sights, we have to realize that this problem will become a MUCH bigger issue somewhere down the road, long after he (and those of us who were born in the last 45+ years) are long gone. 

Nobody will be willing to buy this debt, as T-rump wants to "stand alone."  And surely that will cause an economic catastrophe.  That we can see coming and could (if we weren't so freaking stupid and short sighted) prevent.  

But like everything he's every run, bankruptcy is the only way through. 

Dear GOP house and senate members

You appear to do whatever Mr Trump tells you to do. 

Might I remind you that on November 6, 2012, he posted to Twitter (you can see it in the archive): 

"If the Dow drops 1,000 points in two days, the president should be impeached immediately."

And that's exactly what has happened this week. 

So I expect that you will follow his orders, and do as he said. Impeach him IMMEDIATELY. 

I hate it when there’s a misuse of words

Especially when it's "see how smart you are on general knowledge"

It's STATUTE.  A statue is an inanimate object created by an artist.