Today is supposedly Chinese Valentine's Day. Because it's the 7th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar. First time in my life I'm hearing this. Oh well. Is it really a thing? Do Chinese women really care?
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The "Oregon Rebate" (more truthfully known as stealing something that doesn't belong to you) is now $1600 instead of the original $750. Because they miscalculated what raising taxes by 3% would be. They're even happier about the larger amount, but theft is theft. Taxes should be collected just for security and infrastructure maintenance and improvement. Not to direct behavior. Not to give people more disposable income to spend. Oregon lawmakers would do well to read Davy Crockett's letter Not Yours to Give.
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Classical music can synch the depressed brain. Currently I'm reading the series of music and its ancient meaning by Ted Gioia, the Honest Broker. Being able to affect the brain is not limited to classical music. I am impressed by what music can do to affect thinking.
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Hawaiian Electric is now admitting that the $4 billion Lahaina settlement is going to be hard on them to pay, but they don't expect that they'll raise rates to get the money for it. They're hoping that their investments will do well to earn them the money to pay it off. Boy, that's risky. And I would bet those investment were earmarked for other things. I think rates will have to increase.
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Boy, I'd hate to lose a job in Oregon with the state this incompetent. Is it because they don't have enough competent workers? Or is it because they just don't have money available to give away, so they stall?
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Speaking of the economy, Peter Schiff thinks we're going to see a great downturn again. Schiff has said this a lot, so in a sense, this is not news. Marketwatch.com posted two articles:
I think Powell should hold off on lowering interest rates, because inflation is still present, and lowering interest rates makes sense when a hot economy cools off, not when a struggling economy starts to enter stagflation. Yes, higher interest rates made people poorer and so there is less demand, and therefore, less demand-pull inflation. But that's not a sign of health. The cure is to fix the underlying cause, which is release restrictions on oil and natural gas, for starters.
Here's one of Biden's economic advisors: Jared Bernstein. Listen to his grasp of what the Fed does.
Now listen to this video by El Salvador's Tayib Bukele, who clearly knows a lot more than Jared.
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Climate science is inexact and cannot make accurate predictions. Certainly not ready to get billions in support, when we don't even know how much it would cause the changes they want to see.
And now, there are reports that we have seen the coldest nights on record. Yet one has to read news from outside the mainstream media to learn about this. Because one-sided reporting is the norm now.
CalTech scientists find a way to monitor blood pressure continuously in a non-invasive way. It's 2024, but well, better late than never.
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