Scattered Acres

Why does the stock market go up when everything else is going down? They say that the stock market looks past the present into the future. If that's the case, maybe investors are looking forward to the end of Trump and a Biden presidency. That would be cause for optimism. Trump, of course, uses the the stock market as a measure of his economic acumen. If he thinks he is the cause for a rise in the market, he is right. The stock market is looking at his departure.

My wife and I were having a good conversation about D J Trump, the coronavirus, Tulsa when the smoke alarm went off for no reason at all. Nothing cooking; stove off; just a hot day. What is alarm trying to tells? Pollen in the air? Conversation too hot to handle? [6:40 EDT] Let's see what happens in Tulsa.

I think I’m being followed. No sooner do I look something up on the internet that an ad relevant to my search pops up within seconds. That’s amazing, but also worrisome. Big brother is everywhere.  I have a problem with overpriced printer ink. For many years I’ve been using generic ink that works just fine. But when I updated my driver for a printer from the ABC company, the printer refused to print unless I installed ABC ink cartridges. I liked the printer; too bad I have to spend and arm and a leg to get it to print.  So I went back to using a retired printer from the ABC company. And a message came along to update the driver. Not on your life. But the ABC company wasn’t through with me. “Low on cyan” appears in the screen - and immediately an ad from the ABC company appeared urging me to buy more ABC ink. Not at those prices. So I installed a generic cartridge and received an onscreen warming that it wasn’t ABC ink. It works! Don’t upgrade.  I’ve bought my...

That's the twenty that they said George Floyd used to buy cigarettes in a Minneapolis store. The storekeeper said is was counterfeit and called the police. The next thing I see on TV is a video of Floyd on the ground, reported to be in handcuffs and a cop with his knee on his neck. And there are three other cops standing around. OK. They've got Floyd in the ground in cuffs in the midst of four cops. What was the greatest danger at the time? That Floyd might run away? In cuffs behind his back? With four cops ready to give chase? Even if Floyd had been combative in the squad car as reported, he was in no position to resist in cuffs with four cops standing around? And all this for the allegation of passing a phony twenty-dollar bill. What is clear is that the action did not fit an alleged crime. What is astonishing is that Derek Chauvin, the officer now charged with murder, had the audacity to apply unwarranted and excessive force that was ultimately fatal in broad daylight wh...

I got an email saying that Trump was going to have a press conference at 2 pm. Since I have time on my hands due to a 14-day quarantine after arriving in Maine, I decided to have a look. I've heard about Trump's press conferences, but I'd never seen one. I was looking forward to it, especially his off-the-cuff remarks. I turned the TV on at 2 pm, May 29. There, seated on the White House lawn on folding chairs about six feet apart and wearing masks were the reporters. I waited. They waited. Many men had slung their suit jackets over the back of their chairs. And we waited. I was wondering how they were doing under a full sun. The women among them who had bear arms, shoulders and legs must have thought about bringing sun bloc in addition to their water bottles. Along about 2:40 pm, the men started putting on their suit jackets. Were they getting ready to leave or was the big man about to arrive? It was Trump making the scene about three-quarters of an hour late. Had the a...

As we pass the dubious distinction of marking 100,000 deaths attributable to COVID-19, one has to wonder why the United States of America has worst record in the world among countries with populations of more than a few million for the per capita incidence of the disease. We knew it was coming. One only had to look how it jumped to Iran from China and then Italy. The global spread was obvious and ominous. We now know that precious weeks were lost in mobilizing to meet the invading virus. First it was denial that a threat existed. That is, denial in the Oval Office. And when it was recognized as a global pandemic, the weapons with which to fight were in insufficient supply. This, after the specter of a pandemic had been envisioned for years. So, at the top, we have unwillingness to heed obvious warnings and an inability to take the lead in assembling the needed resources to fight the disease. Statisticians have concluded that delay - that is, inadequate leadership - may have cost as m...

It's Memorial Day observed. A day of remembrance of those killed in the line of duty for the United States. The numbers are significant. The Civil War was the deadliest of all with estimates of more or less 700,000 dead or almost 2.4% of the population. World War II took away over 400,000. Since then we have had the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Middle East wars, and numerous lesser skirmishes with fatalities. The deaths in all of these battles add up to a bit over 100,000. The United States has secured no clear victories since World War II and many have come to see these wars as inadvisable if not disastrous. We have a present enemy and we are at war again. It's the coronavirus. And we are not doing well. Here are the numbers. They are non-partisan. The NY Times reported more than 1,650,000 cases. That's 505 cases per 100,000 or one in every 198 people. That puts us on a par with the very worst numbers coming out of Europe from Ireland, Spain and Belgium and way wor...