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THIS MONTH IN HISTORY – OCTOBER

October has had more than its share of significant historical events. Please see below:

10/1/1908 – The first Model T cars, designed by Henry Ford, went on sale.
10/1/1938 – German troops occupied the Sudetenland section of Czechoslovakia.
10/1/1949 – The Peoples’ Republic of China was founded with Mao Zedong as its leader.
10/1/1979 – The US formally turned the Canal Zone over to Panama.
10/2/1967 – Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African American associate justice of the Supreme Court.
10/3/1863 – President Abraham Lincoln promulgated a proclamation designating the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving (later changed to the fourth Thursday).
10/3/1929 – The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was officially renamed Yugoslavia.
10/3/1932 – Iraq gained its independence from Great Britain.
10/3/1974 – Hall of Famer Frank Robinson became the first African American to manage a major league baseball club (the Cleveland Indians). Later, he also became the first AA manager to be fired.
10/3/1990 – East and West Germany were united as the Federal Republic of Germany ending 45 years of separation.
10/4/1830 – Belgium gained its independence from the Netherlands.
10/4/1957 – Russia ushered in the Space Age as it launched the first satellite, named Sputnik.
10/5/1908 – Bulgaria proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
10/6/1927 – “The Jazz Singer,” the first “talkie,” opened in NYC.
10/6/1928 – Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek became the president of the Republic of China.
10/6/1973 – The “Yom Kippur War” commenced as Egypt and Syria launched surprise attacks against Israel, which was busy celebrating the most sacred of Jewish holidays.
10/6/1981 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated.
10/7/1985 – Palestinian terrorists seized the cruise ship, “Achille Lauro,” and threatened to blow it up if their demands were not met. They infamously murdered an elderly wheelchair-bound passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, by pushing his wheelchair off the deck into the sea.

10/7/2023 – Hamas terrorists perpetrated the worst attack on Israeli civilians since the Holocaust murdering, raping and terrorizing thousands of innocent women, children and elderly people.

10/8/1871 – The Great Fire of Chicago destroyed much of the city. Legend has it that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow started it by kicking over a lantern in her barn.
10/8/1918 – Sergeant Alvin York, arguably the US’s greatest war hero, single-handedly took out a German machine-gun battalion, killing and capturing nearly 150 enemy soldiers. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the French equivalent, the Croix de Guerre.
10/8/1998 – The House of Representatives voted to launch a formal impeachment inquiry of President Bill Clinton.
10/9/1962 – Uganda gained its independence from Great Britain.
10/10/1973 – Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amid allegations of income tax evasion stemming from his tenure as Governor of Maryland.
10/11/1939 – Scientist Albert Einstein issued a warning to President FDR that Germany was seeking to develop an atomic weapon. His warning led the US to marshal its resources to develop its own atomic weapon (the Manhattan Project).
10/12/1492 – Christopher Columbus landed in present-day El Salvador, erroneously thinking he had found the elusive northwest passage to India.
10/12/1811 – Paraguay declared its independence from Spain.
10/12/1822 – Brazil declared its independence from Portugal.
10/13/1792 – George Washington laid the cornerstone of the White House.
10/13/1884 – Greenwich, England was established as the basic time zone from which all time is calculated.
10/14/1066 – The Normans defeated the English at the decisive Battle of Hastings, which resulted in the Normans’ conquest of England.
10/14/1912 – Former president Theodore Roosevelt was shot while campaigning for re-election, but he survived.
10/14/1947 – Test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first to break the sound barrier.
10/14/1964 – Martin Luther King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
10/15/1991 – Following several days of contentious hearings regarding allegations of sexual harassment against a former aide, Anita Hill, the Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
10/16/1701 – Yale University was founded in Killingworth, CT as the Collegiate School of Connecticut.
10/16/1793 – French Queen Marie Antoinette, known for her extravagance and contempt for her subjects (“Let them eat cake.”), was beheaded.
10/16/1853 – The Crimean War (Russia, England and France vs. the Ottoman Empire and parts of present-day Italy) began.
10/16/1995 – Louis Farrakhan led the Million Man March on Washington.
10/17/1777 – The Colonial Army defeated the British at Saratoga in what many historians believe was the turning point of the Revolutionary War.
10/17-25/1944 – The US succeeded in decimating the Japanese Navy at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which was the largest naval battle in history.
10/18/1945 – The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial commenced with indictments against 24 former Nazi leaders.
10/19/1781 – English General Cornwallis surrendered to the Colonial Army at Yorktown, VA. marking the end of the Revolutionary War.
10/19/1987 – This day was dubbed “Black Monday” on Wall Street as stocks plunged 508 points or 22.6%, at the time the largest one-day decline ever.
10/20/1818 – The US and Great Britain agreed to establish the US-Canadian border at the 49th parallel. The 5,525-mile border is the longest in the world between any two countries.
10/20/1944 – General Douglas MacArthur, who upon fleeing the Philippines in 1942 to escape the Japanese Army boldly asserted “I shall return,” returned as promised.
10/20/1968 – Jacqueline Kennedy, widow of President John Kennedy, married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
10/21/1805 – The British Navy defeated the combined naval forces of France and Spain at the Battle of Trafalgar, obviating the threat of their invasion of England.
10/21/1879 – Thomas Edison successfully tested an incandescent lamp.
10/21/1915 – AT&T transmitted the first successful transatlantic radio voice message (Virginia to Paris).
10/22/1962 – President Kennedy warned Americans of the existence of Russian missiles in Cuba. The so-called “Cuban Missile Crisis” was probably the biggest threat of nuclear war during the Cold War.
10/23/1942 – The British Army led by General Bernard Montgomery launched a major offensive against the German Afrika Corps, led by General Erwin Rommel, at El Alamein, Egypt. Montgomery’s victory marked a major turning point in WWII.
10/24/1931 – Notorious Chicago gangster, Al Capone, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for income tax evasion.
10/24/1945 – The UN was founded.
10/25/1854 – 673 British cavalrymen took on a Russian force in the Battle of Balaclava. This famous Crimean War battle was immortalized in a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson entitled “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”
10/26/1881 – In the infamous shoot-out at the OK Corral the Earp brothers and “Doc” Holliday defeated the Clanton Gang.
10/26/1825 – The Erie Canal, the first man-made waterway in America, opened for business.
10/27/1904 – The NYC subway system opened with a run from City Hall to West 145th Street as the first underground and underwater system in the world.
10/27/1978 – Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Peace Prize.
10/28/1636 – Harvard University, the oldest university in America, was founded in Cambridge, MA, funded by donations provided by John Harvard.
10/28/1846 – The ill-fated Donner Party departed Illinois for California.
10/28/1918 – The Republic of Czechoslovakia was founded by combining three provinces that were formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – Moravia, Slovakia, and Bohemia.
10/28/1919 – Prohibition commenced as Congress enacted the Volstead Act.
10/28/1962 – Russia agreed to halt the construction of offensive missile bases in Cuba and dismantle existing bases, thus ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.
10/29/1929 – The stock market “crashed” ushering in the Great Depression.
10/30/1938 – A radio broadcast of H. G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” without commercial interruption caused widespread panic, as many people thought that Martians had actually invaded Earth.

10/31/41- The sculptures of four US presidents on Mt. Rushmore was completed. Can you name them? (See below).

10/31/50 – Earl Lloyd became the first AA to play in the NBA (Washington Capitols).

10/31/84 – Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandhi was assassinated.

BIRTHDAYS – Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi – 10/2/1869; Rutherford B. Hayes (19th President) – 10/4/1822; Frederic Remington (artist)- 10/4/1861; Chester A. Arthur (21st President) – 10/5/1830; Robert Goddard (“Father of the Space Age”) – 10/5/1882; George Westinghouse (engineer and inventor) – 10/6/1846; John Lennon – 10/9/1940; Eleanor Roosevelt – 10/11/1884; Mary Ludwig (aka Molly Pitcher (Revolutionary War heroine of the Battle of Monmouth, NJ) – 10/13/1754; William Penn (founded the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which bears his name) – 10/14/1644; Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower (WWII commanding general and 34th President) – 10/14/1890; Lido Anthony (Lee) Iacocca (auto industry executive) – 10/15/1924; Noah Webster (teacher and journalist who compiled the first dictionaries) – 10/16/1758; Oscar Wilde (Irish playwright and poet) – 10/16/1854; David Ben Gurion (“Father” of Israel) – 10/16/1888; Eugene O’Neill (playwright – “The Iceman Cometh”) – 10/16/1888; William O. Douglas (associate justice of the Supreme Court) – 10/16/1898; John Birks (Dizzy) Gillespie (jazz musician) – 10/21/1917; Pablo Picasso (artist) – 10/25/1881; Hillary Rodham Clinton – 10/26/1947; James Cook (English explorer) – 10/27/1728; Theodore Roosevelt (26th President) – 10/27/1858; Dr. Jonas Salk (polio vaccine) – 10/28/1914; Bill Gates (Microsoft) – 10/28/1955; John Adams (2nd President) – 10/30/1735; Emily Post (arbiter of etiquette) – 10/30/1872; Admiral Will (“Bull”) Halsey (WWII fleet commander) – 10/30/1882.

Quiz answer: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

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THE DEMISE OF WESTERN EUROPE

As always, the contents of this blog constitute a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my personal opinion where indicated.

What has happened to the once solid, stable, pro-Western and powerful Western European countries? In this blog I will be focusing on England and France, but much of what follows could also pertain to the other countries in the region. Incidentally, what is generally referred to as Western Europe includes Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. I’m not just focusing on the current rioting and lawlessness plaguing these countries. That is most disturbing, but in my opinion the seeds for this violence were sown decades ago. It’s just now reaching critical mass, and I fear for the future of those countries and their law-abiding citizens.

We’ve all seen the grotesque news footage. Widespread and violent anti-government riots have erupted across France. The devastation has been massive, and it is not over yet. The spark was protests over the high cost of living, inflation, fuel prices, and underfunded public services and education. Much of the French media has characterized the rioting as “mostly peaceful,” but that is not the impression I have gotten from the news footage. Some of you may recall the similarly inaccurate reporting of the riots in the US a few years ago. I still remember the image of a CNN reporter claiming they were peaceful protests while in the background one could see buildings burning.

As I write this it is estimated that as many as 800,000 rioters have been involved in excess of 100 separate riots. According to authorities nearly 2,500 have been arrested, some 1,000 police officers have been injured, and about 3,000 businesses, shops and historic buildings have been looted, vandalized, or destroyed. During the riots police fired tear gas into crowds and fought running battles with black-clad, hooded rioters. CNN has characterized this as “the worst rioting in years.”

Initially, there were mild protests over education and cost of living issues. The objective was to force the government to enact policies to reduce the cost of living and higher education, increase teachers’ compensation and protect pensions against reductions due to budget reductions. These are reasonable concerns to negotiate peacefully. However, as often happens, the protests quickly metastisized into a tidal wave of deadly, country-wide violence, including looting, destroying property, and burning businesses and buildings, that could expand into other countries. Some examples included (1) a mob standing by and laughing at a fireman engulfed in flames, (2) no one coming to the aid of a teacher engulfed in flames as her school burns behind her, and (3) a goon with a flamethrower attacking a woman. These are not “protests.” They are scenes one would expect to see on the set of a dystopian movie, not on the streets of Paris.

Some agitators found it necessary to exacerbate the violence even further by egging the mob on to do further damage. The media has characterized the level of violence and destruction as “the worst seen in years,” and it has “shaken the nation and prompted forceful condemnations from leaders and the public alike.” As in the US, anyone who accurately ascribed the violence to immigrants from third world countries or Muslims was instantly branded as a racist.

According to CNN at the suggestion of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu some areas of certain cities have imposed “partial curfews” to protect people, property and businesses. Also, some cities, notably Marseille have banned all gatherings and demonstrations from midday until 8 p.m. local time. Others, such as Nice, have imposed curfews for minors. So far, major tourist attractions like the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower are remaining open and operating normally. The NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints scheduled for October 25 at the Stade de France, is still on but with enhanced security.

A national election is scheduled in six months, and the finger-pointing has already begun. The government is being accused of having failed to adequately anticipate the scale of the conditions that gave rise to the riots, and various politicians are blaming those from other parties..

European governments have begun to respond to the threat of radical Islam across the continent. For example, an overwhelming majority of the members of The European Parliament, which is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union, passed a resolution that condemned the Muslim Brotherhood and its role in the riots. Several left-leaning members voted against it. The press release stated, in part, that “Islamist entryism targets democratic institutions, the rule of law, equality between women and men and fundamental freedoms.” That said, the release is probably mostly symbolic anyway.

In response, ENAR, a pan-European anti-racism network issued its own statement, which “condemn[ed] in the strongest possible terms the “racist and Islamophobic” resolution “on the need for an EU strategy to counter Islamist entryism and the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood network” proposed by the European People’s Party (EPP) and passed by the European Parliament. Blah, blah, blah. Nothing meaningful will be accomplished.

In my view, this has been a long time coming. The reckoning has just now arrived. The seeds for it were sown decades ago. After World War II, European nations invited foreign workers to emigrate to help rebuild their economies. According to the Brookings Institution these “temporary” worker programs eventually led to permanence. Many of the descendants of those workers are among the unassilimated and disaffected.

Then, the EU inacted an open border policy. The major effect was that millions of personsfrom third-world countries poured in. Once in, they were able to emigrate to any other country within the EU. Many of them emigrated from impoverished, war-torn or autocratically-governed countries and were merely seeking a better life. Others emigrated to European countries due to past colonial connections, such as South Asians moving to the United Kingdom or North Africans moving to France. Most of these people have assimilated peacefully. Others, were radicals and did not. Many, if not most, of these persons were Muslims who had no interest in assimilating and becoming productive members of society. They are prone to use violence to get what they want. We have seen this in various other European countries as well as in the US.

As I said, England has been having its own problems with radical Muslims. Politicians are unable to cope. Where are the strong, decisive prime ministers like Margaret Thatcher when we neeed them? The “Muslim problem” in England centers on a dual crisis of rising Islamist extremism and entryism alongside a historic surge in Islamophobia, anti-Muslim hate crime, and societal polarization. According to the Economist, MI5 reported that roughly 75% of its counter-terrorism workload involves Islamists.

CONCLUSION

At the risk of being branded a racist, I must tell it like it is. The current situation in Europe is a direct result of years, if not decades, of (1) lax immigration policies, (2) immigrants, chiefly Muslims, who refuse to assimilate, (3) leaders who are loath to deal with the issues for fear of being branded as racists, and (4) government policies that provide excessive public assistance to those who decline to contribute to society.

A country can possibly survive with a somewhat permissive immigration policy OR overly generous public assistance policies, BUT NOT BOTH. Excessive government assistance programs sound good. Everyone likes “free stuff,” even thiugh we know they’re not really free. Someone, has to pay for it, somewhere, somehow, and to quote the late Margaret Thatcher “eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

The above-described situation should serve as a warning for the US. The current events in Europe are providing incontrovertible empirical evidence that we should heed. As I have denoted in previous blogs the Biden years of open borders and excessive spending had a devastating effect on the US politically, economically, socially and culturally that will linger indefinitely. President Trump’s policies have mitigated those to an extent. Unfortunately, future administrations may be tempted to return to the Biden-style policies. My advice is DON’T.

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GOVERNOR HOCHUL AND A HAM SANDWICH

As always, the contents of this blog constitute a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my personal opinion where indicated.

Dem Governor Kathy Hochul has been leading Repub Bruce Blakeman in the election polls all year, at times by a comfortable margin. However, two recent polls have disclosed that the spread has narrowed to the point that Blakemen has a realistic chance of an upset. The latest Marist poll reported that Hochul has an eleven point lead, and the latest Pollfinity poll reported that she has a mere three point lead. In addition, most news outlets and commentators have opined that Blakeman “won” their recent debate decisively. More on that later.

Hochul’s ascendancy to governor was based on a fortuitous set of circumstances that bore little relationship to her record as a politician. In 2014 NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo was seeking a running mate to “balance” the ticket. Hochul seemed to be the best choice. She was a former Congresswoman from a conservative-leaning district and had been an Erie County Clerk. He had run poorly in that area in 2010, and he was not as popular among women. The expectation was that she would appeal to centrist, conservative, and rural voters upstate where Cuomo was weak. She provided both geographic and gender balance, and she was also a moderate. Furthermore, Hochul was the party’s sole female statewide candidate that year. Thus, Hochul was plucked from obscurity into the bigtime.

More good fortune: In August 2012 Cuomo became embroiled in a sexual harasssment scandal. He was forced to resign and Hochul became the first female NYS governor without possessing the requisite experience and qualifications. In that type of situation some people are able to grow into the job and be succcessful, whereas others are not. You can decide into which category Hochul belongs.

In 2022 she was elected to a full term. Soon after, her handpicked lieutenant governor, former state Senator Brian Benjamin, was indicted on corruption charges and was forced to resign. Hochul was widely criticized because she had been cognizant of Benjamin’s legal problems, but she picked him regardless.

Hochul’s tenure as governor has been marred by a plethora of issues, controversies and bad decisions, for example;

  1. She has become known for “flip-flops.” She is not a person of strong convictions. She has changed her positions on topics such as Manhattan congestion pricing, tax policies and immigration, to name a few. Regarding congestion pricing, prior to the 2024 elections she delayed its implementation. Then, afterwards her opinion “evolved,” and she promulgated it. It has been very unpopular especially among the working class and small business owners. In addition, it does not appear to have relieved Manhattan’s congestion problem in the least.
  2. Prior to her selection as Lt. Governor she was a hardliner on immigration, particularly with respect to illegals obtaining drivers’ licenses. For instance, she opposed a state proposal to grant driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, even threatening to have them arrested if they applied at her offices. Then, in 2018, while serving as Lieutenant Governor, she reversed her stance, supporting the initiative to meet the labor demands of upstate farmers. As governor she has turned NY into a sanctuary state. Critics from both the progressive left and conservative right have opined that her policy trajectory on immigration has been unpredictable, with opponents like Bruce Blakeman and Representative Mike Lawler denoting she has shifted positions depending on which political faction she needs to appease at the time. In my view, this flip-flopping is typical of many of her policies. She may characterize this trait as “evolving,” but I view it as gaslighting.
  3. For years she was known as a moderate Dem, which was one of the main reasons Cuomo picked her as a running mate in the first place. Since Comrade Zoh was elected mayor of NYC, however, rather than restraining his wild policies she has entered into a mutually-beneficial political alliance with him. For example, she provided him with billions of dollars in state aid to help New York City close its considerable budget gap; and they joined forces on expanding free child care initiatives across the city by committing substantial state funding to the program.
  4. Mamdani has endorsed Hochul’s re-election bid, and Hochul relies on him and his progressive, youthful base for support. As the expression goes, “politics makes strange bedfellows.”
  5. Hochul has become toxic. A recent poll released by Sienna University/Times Union and NBC, among others, reported that 60% of respondents had an unfavorable view of her. Furthermore, according to the NY Post at least two Dems running for Congress have disavowed that they support her. In an open forum Cait Conley, Dem candidate in the Hudson Valley’s 17th Congressional District, actually agreed with her Repub opponent, Mike Lawler, that Hochul was responsible for NYS’s toxic business climate, including the “highest taxes in the nation,” congestion pricing and excessive red tape, concluding “Hochul has to go.” During a radio station interview North Country Dem nominee Blake Gendbien, who has been closely tied to Hochul, tried to downplay their mutual support by repeatedly dodging the host’s inquiries.
  6. The governor is supposed to control, or at least influence, the mayor. After all, the governor has the power of the purse. Hochul’s and Zoh’s relationship appears to be at least an equal partnership with Zoh actually dominating at times. Hochul’s motivation is clear. She wants the far left’s support in the current election. Who knows what promises she has made to those lunatics to be promulgated after the election.
  7. Historically, Hochul was against raising taxes. Yet recently she advocated assessing a tax on secondary homes in New York City. She wanted to implement an annual surcharge on non-primary NYC residences that are worth $5 million and higher, with the proceeds going toward paying down Mamdani’s $5.4 billion city budget gap. The Supreme Court struck this down on technicalities, but it could easily be resurrected, again after the election of course.
  8. The foregoing are problematic, but they pale before the next one. It’s no secret that NYS is in deep trouble financially. Years of Dem control, which has resulted in excessive spending, high taxes, waste and corruption have led businesses and people with the wherewithall to flee the state and resettle in states with lower taxes, a lower cost of living and a friendlier attitude towards business to do so. The obvious results have been a decline in the tax base and employment opportunities. In this day and age many businesses and individuals can easily operate remotely, and many of them have taken advantage of that. According to multiple media reports some 5,000 businesses have left NY in the last few years, and thousands more have scaled back their operations in the state. Moreover, in 2024 the state had a net decline of nearly 14,000 taxpayers, a disproportunate share of which were high income and wealthy taxpayers. This led to a classic Hochul flip-flop. Initially, in pushing her “tax the rich” program she basically told businesses and rich persons that if they don’t like it they should leave. As noted above many have. Later, recognizing the shrinking tax base she tried to lure them back. Said one commentator, “after taxing the hell out of us and even telling us to leave, Kathy Hochul is now begging people to return.” In short, I maintain that, as governor, one of Hochul’s primary responsibilites is to make NY more attractive to taxpayers, and she has failed miserably at that.

A few days ago Hochul and her Repub opponent, Bruce Blakeman met in their only scheduled debate. Most observers opined that Blakeman “won” decisively. The topics on which he “scored” were (1) the high price of energy, which, due to taxes embedded in the price, are 70% higher than the national average, (2) NYS’s sanctuary state practices, which severely compromise the safety and security of everyone, and (3) her close relationship with Comrade Zoh, an admitted anti-semite. Hochul’s weak rebuttal was to blame President Trump for everything. Voters have been hearing that from Dems for ten years, and they’re tired of it.

“Winning” the debate is fine, but historically, with few exceptions (Kennedy vs Nixon in 1960 and Trump vs Biden in 2024 being the most famous ones) the debate results have not been reflected in the polls. In this case, we will have to wait and see.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, Hochul’s slim, shakey lead in the polls is an indictment of her poor record as governor as described above. The race should not be nearly this close. NYS is a deep blue state in which the Dem candidate virtually always wins a statewide election, often by a comfortable margin. Dem registered voters outnumber Repubs by more than 2:1 (48% vs 23%). NYS has not elected a Repub governor since George Pataki who served from 1995-2006. It should be noted that since then NY has become even more radically “blue.”

This situation reminds me of a famous expression that a District Attorney requesting a Grand Jury to issue an indictment against a person accused of a crime is almost always successful to the point that it’s been said that the DA could even get the GJ to issue an indictment against a “ham sandwich.” In my opinion, in NYS a majority of people would automatically vote for any Dem candidate regardless of his or her qualifications and experience, even the proverbial “ham sandwich.” (Some of you may recall that in a recent election cycle the voters in deep blue Alleghany County, PA actually elected a dead person to Congress.)


In this analogy, any candidate nominated by the Dems, regardless of his or her experience and qualifications, should defeat the Repub opponent. In this case Hochul represents the “ham sandwich.”


















































































































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COLUMBUS DAY

Today, Monday, October 12, we will celebrate Columbus Day, which is a holiday to honor the man who “discovered” America. CD is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States. But did Columbus really “discover” America? More on that later.

President Trump has issued an official presidential proclamation for Columbus Day. Federal offices and most banks will be closed, so there will be no mail delivery (although national parks will be open). . On the other hand, financial markets and most schools will be open. Many cities and towns will hold their traditional Columbus Day parade, including NYC for the 82nd year. If you’re planning to drive into midtown today, don’t. There will be many street closures, and the usual heavy traffic will be especially brutal. You would be better off taking public transportation.

The parade, which is to honor those of Italian heritage, has a long tradition of hosting mayors going back decades. It is organized by the Columbus Citizens Foundation. It is anticipated that thousands of people will pack Fifth Avenue from 44th to 72nd streets to view the approximately 35,000 marchers, floats, bands, and performers that will participate in the celebration. Some years the weather has put a damper on the festivities, but this year it is a perfect Fall day.

NYC’s celebration of its Italian cultural roots is a tradition that connects those of Italian heritage to their ancestors, who emigrated there. The parade will be broadcast and streamed live on ABC To the dismay of some Italian American New Yorkers and the organizers of the parade a spokeswoman has disclosed that Comrade Zoh will not be marching in the parade. City Hall’s press office declined to explain why, but said he intended to host an Italian American heritage reception at Gracie Mansion in the coming weeks. In addition, on Saturday, Zoh released a video celebrating Italian American Heritage Month, which runs through October. This is an obvious snub, but at this point we should be used to them. As I have said many times this is the person whom NYC voters elected, and you get the government you deserve.

According to City Hall.since taking office Zoh has marched in many parades celebrating, for example, Lunar New Year, and the heritages of West Indian, Ecuadoreans, L.G.B.T.Q, Puerto Rican, Dominican and Sikh communities, That’s fine, but those are very small populaces. By comparison, there are roughly 600,000 residents of Italian descent living in NYC and in excess of 2.6 million in the metropolitan area.

CD has been celebrated in the US since 1792. Originally, it was celebrated on October 12, the date on which Columbus made landfall. FDR proclaimed CD a national holiday in 1937. In 1971 pursuant to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act the date was changed to the second Monday in October where it has remained ever since.

In recent years Columbus and CD have become controversial. Many Native American and other activist groups have denoted his brutality toward the indigenous peoples he encountered, particularly in the West Indies. For example, Kerri Malloy, a professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies at San José State University maintains his arrival to the Americas “triggered a mass genocide of Indigenous People throughout the Western hemisphere,” which included deadly diseases being spread among them, their land being stolen, and being forced into Christianity.

Currently, there is no uniformity with respect to the manner in which the holiday is celebrated throughout the US. According to Wikipedia several states, including Alaska, Hawaii. Vermont, South Dakota, New Mexico, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia, recognize the holiday under a different name such as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Fraternal Day, Native Americans’ Day, or Discovers Day.

For hundreds of years the conventional wisdom was that Columbus discovered America in 1492. Most of us know the basics of the story. Columbus was born in Genoa, which is now part of Italy, in 1451. According to Wikipedia the precise date is not known. He went to sea at around the age of ten and travelled extensively from the British Isles to the West African coast.

By the late 1400s the spice trade between Asia and Europe had become extremely lucrative. The problem was it took too long to travel between the two locations. Either ships had to sail around the “horn” of Africa or caravans had to travel overland through central Asia. Both routes were arduous and dangerous. Columbus became convinced he could find a quicker route. Time meant money, even in the 15th century. He was seeking a “Northwest Passage” to Asia, which would enhance the spice trade between Europe and Asia. His idea that he could find it by traveling west was generally considered radical and unrealistic.

At the time, most people believed the world was flat, and that if one sailed too far west the ship would simply fall off the edge of the earth. It was not until the 16th century, thanks primarily to the research of Copernicus and Galileo that the scientific community generally accepted the notion that the earth was spherical, not flat, and that it revolved around the sun, not the other way around. Columbus “pitched” his idea all over Europe seeking a sponsor. He was subjected to laughter and ridicule until King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain decided to take a chance on him. He set sail in August of 1492 with three ships – the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.

On October 12 he made landfall in the current-day Bahamas Islands. He named the indigenous people “Indians,” as he thought he was in India. Of course, he was wrong, but the term Indians to identify Native Americans has “stuck.” As Colonial Governor of the area he became known for his extreme brutality toward the indigenous people. It was so bad that eventually he was removed from his post.

Eventually, Columbus would make three subsequent voyages to Central and South America. He never set foot in any part of North America. And he never did find the elusive Northwest Passage.

Based on new evidence, it is now generally accepted that Columbus did not “discover” America as we were taught in school. He did not “discover” anything. He was not the first person to set foot in America, not even close as you will see below. What he did accomplish was to make Europeans aware of the existence of a “New World,” which was chock full of unimaginable riches. His successful voyages ushered in a new era of exploration, exploitation, conquest, colonization and war that would last for centuries. He was not the first, but one can argue that he was the most significant.

So, who did “discover” America?

  1. According to historian Michael Bawaya, editor of the magazine, American Archaeology, the original settlers arrived about 15,000 years ago. At that time the Bering Sea, which separates modern-day Siberia from North America, was shallower than it is now. In some areas, there was an actual land-bridge. According to the US National Parks Service the land-bridge “played a vital role” in the spread of flora and fauna between the two continents. Animals such as mastodons, wooly mammoths, Arctic camels, horses and various species of fish and birds moved freely over the land-bridge establishing migration patterns that persist to this day. Of course, humans followed as they went where the food was.
  2. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of settlements in and around Clovis, NM that are some 11,000 years old. DNA evidence suggests that these inhabitants were the direct ancestors of some 80% of ALL indigenous peoples in the Americas.
  3. According to Voanews there is ample evidence that the Vikings inhabited Newfoundland and other parts of eastern Canada as early as circa 1100. Two leaders of these intrepid Viking explorers were Leif Erickson and his son, Eric “the Red.” They did not establish any permanent colonies, but there is ample evidence that they used the area as a winter settlement to make repairs to their boats and “ride out” bad weather.
  4. There is evidence that Chinese and/or Polynesian explorers made their way to parts of South America well before Columbus.

CONCLUSION

In summary, I believe Columbus deserves credit (and blame) for introducing the New World to Europeans and all that followed, but it cannot be said that he “discovered” it. As indicated by his harsh treatment of the natives he was not perfect; none of us is. But I am not a proponent of “revisionist history” as advocated by many on the “left.” Therefore, I do not believe CD should be “canceled.” In my view, Columbus, regardless of his well-documented personal faults, deserves credit for his extensive and significant historical impact, and he should continue to be recognized with a holiday in his memory.

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MAMDANI’S ANTISEMITIC COMMENTS MAR OCTOBER 7 DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

As always, the contents of this blog constitute a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my personal opinion, where indicated.

Monday, October 7, 2026, marked the third anniversary of the heinous terrorist attacks by various Islamic terrorist groups against Israeli citizens. Over 1,100 Israelis were slaughered in the most indiscriminate, savage, wanton and vile manners imaginable. Most of the victims were unarmed; many were defenseless women, children, elderly and infirmed. It was not enough to shoot the victims. Many of them were subjected to beheadings, torture, mutilation, sexual violence, and other unspeakable crimes.

An additional 250 were abducted. They were all severely maltreated in captivity, subjected to repeated rapings, beatings, and other savagery. Many of them died in captivity.

There was no military purpose to the attacks; the objective was to torture, maim and terrorize indiscriminately. Many commentators compared this attack to the pogroms of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In my opinion and that of many others, it was certainly the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust.

October 7 has since become a day of solemn remembrance for Israelis and Jews all over the world. As mayor of NYC it fell upon Comrade Zoh to give a speech commemorating it. Nevertheless, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to bash Israel and Jews. After a few words of lip service he couldn’t resist showing his true colors. He used the main part of his speech to reiterate his vile, hateful, anti-semitic rhetoric. He largely attacked Israel, which had retaliated against the terrorists as any country is entitled to do, for committing “war crimes” in an “ongoing genocide.” He didn’t stop there. He punctuated his attack by accusing the US of aiding and abetting this “genocide” based on its continuing support of Israel. This outrageous accusation is simply not true, and it has been discredited. In fact, it was the terrorists who committed the war crimes and who engaged in genocide.

Comrade Zoh was playing to his base to reinforce his bonafides as a bigot, but in doing so he sullied the day for Jews and other sympathizers. Zoh has not yet demonstrated cognizance that he is the mayor of ALL New Yorkers, including the 960,000 Jews who reside in the city. He punctuated his odious remarks by choosing to dine at a Palestinian restaurant known to be virulently anti-semitic/anti-Israel. Many people viewed that as a strange choice under the circumstances, but not those who are cognizant of Comrade Zoh’s attitudes and policies.

Of course, his speech sparked extensive outrage in the Jewish community. For example, Julie Menin, NYC Council Speaker, criticized Zoh’s timing stating that October 7 was a date that is “about only one thing and that is honoring and remembering the 1,200 people” who were murdered. Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, added that Zoh was “weaponizing the memory of the [October 7] victims in order to push his own agenda and undermine the Jewish community.” True, but let’s not forget that approximately 315,000 or 33% of the NYC Jewish population voted for him in the 2024 mayoral election. I’ve been trying to figure out why for two years. I have published several blogs analyzing this phenominon, but it still amazes me. During the mayorial campaign Zoh was forthright in expressing his antisemitism. Those who voted for him knew or should have known what they were getting. They should neither complain nor be shocked and offended by anything he says or does against Israel or Jews, in general. He is whom NYC voters elected, and you get the government you deserve.

When it comes to Israel and the Jews Comrade Zoh doesn’t care about the facts. Like others of his ilk his goal is to inflame his constituency by twisting the facts to suit his own warped viewpoint. The sad thing is that due to the ignorance and innate prejudices of many Americans it is working. Witness the multitude of pro-Paleatinian/anti-Israel/anti-semitic “demonstrations” that have been occurring with great frequency. Many of these people don’t have the foggiest idea of the facts and what they are protesting and don’t care to learn them. Moreover, they probably couldn’t even find Israel or Gaza on a map. In addition, a goodly portion of them are probably unemployed professional agitators who flit from protest to protest. Perhaps, some are in the US illegally. This is the world we are living in.

CONCLUSION

As bad as the current status is, my prediction is it will only get worse. Comrade Zoh is not unique. He is merely the first of many. His election has emboldened many other antisemitic bigots to step forth. It is estimated that there are dozens of neo-communists running for office this election cycle. We are familiar with those running for the US Senate and the House, but there are many more running for state and local offices.

Recent polls illustrate that most Americans still favor Capitalism over Socialism, 55% to 43%, although the allure of “free stuff” (which clear thinkers know is not really free) has been closing the gap in recent years. Furthermore, only a slim minority favor Communism. However, as I write this most of the Socialists/neo-communists are projected to win their elections.

We have seen in other countries that once their policies have been implemented they are impossible to reverse. If we don’t stop them now in this election I fear that the country will be virtually unrecognizable in a generation.

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US GEOGRAPHY QUIZ

Some of you have been requesting a quiz as a change of pace from the dire news with which have been bombarded daily. So, here it is. Be careful what you wish for. No peeking at the internet. No asking Siri, Alexa, or a friend.

  1. The most western state in the US is (a) Hawaii, (b)California, (c) Washington, (d) Alaska.
  2. The highest mountain peak in the US is (a) Mt.Whitney, (b) the Denali, (c) Pike’s Peak, (d) Mt. Ranier/
  3. The eastern most state in the US is (a) Maine, (b) Florida, (c) Alaska, (d) New York.
  4. Which of the following cities is NOT the capital of the state in which it is located. (a) New Orleans, (b) Montgomery, (c) Boise, (d) Pierre.
  5. Which of the following states is not part of the so-called “Four Corners?” (a) Utah, (b) Colorado, (c) New Mexico, (d) Oklahoma?
  6. The Continental Divide runs through each of the following states EXCEPT (a) Colorado, (b) Washington, (c) Alaska, (d) Montana.
  7. The US and Canada share the longest border of any two countries, 5,525 miles. Which of the following states does NOT share a border with Canada? (a) Ohio, (b) Massachusetts, (c) Vermont, (d) Pennsylvania.
  8. The most southern state in the US is (a) Florida, (b) Hawaii, (c) Mississippi, (d) Alabama.
  9. Mount Rushmore is located in which state? (a) North Dakota, (b) South Dakota, (c) Montana, (d) Wyoming
  10. The capital city of Ohio is (a) Cleveland, (b) Toledo, (c) Cincinnati, (d) Columbus
  11. Each of the following states border the Misissippi River EXCEPT (a) Kentucky, (b) Tennessee, (c) Michigan, (d) Wisconsin
  12. The Lewis and Clark Expedition began in which state. (a) Missouri, (b) Iowa, (c) Kentucky, (d) Kansas
  13. The Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail is located in which state? (a) Florida, (b) North Carolina, (c) South Carolina, (d) Georgia
  14. New England includes each of the following states EXCEPT: (a) New York, (b) Maine, (c) New Hampshire, (d) Vermont
  15. Which state borders on two oceans? (a) Hawaii, (b) Florida, (c) New York, (d) Alaska

Answers: 1. (d); 2. (b) (20,310 feet), 3. (c), 4.(a), 5. (d), 6. (b), 7. (b), 8. (b), 9. (b), 10. (d), 11. (c) 12. (a), 13. (d), 14. (a), 15. (d)

Well, there you have it. How did you do?

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KAT AND ZOH

As always, the contents of this blog constitute a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my personal opinion where indicated.

I know Kat and Zoh sounds like a vaudeville act. Unfortunately, their alliance is not a comedy act. It is deadly serious, and I believe it could have dire consequences for NYS and NYC, particularly if Kat wins re-election in November. As governor, Kat’s most critical task is to halt the exodus of businesses and wealthy individuals. She has failed miserably at that. In fact, her policies have escalated those trends. And yet, she is still leading in the polls and will likely be re-elected. Go figure.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have forged a symbiotic political alliance. In essence, Zoh needs Kat’s support to fund his ambitious, excessively-expensive neo-communist program including, among others, tax increases, free bus rides, and universal childcare. On the other hand, Kat needs Zoh’s support with the far left in order to win re-election.

Relationship examples:

  1. Zoh has pledged to actively campaign and “stump” for Kat in the 2026 gubernatorial election. According to a recent Siena Poll, 50% of likely voters believe his endorsement will improve Kat’s chances of being re-elected. I would agree.
  2. Whatever happened to Zoh’s campaign promises? The homeless crisis has exacerbated. I haven’t heard anything recently about the much-balley-hooed government-run grocery stores. What is the status of the free bus rides? His program to tax the second homes of the wealthy was mismanaged and then shot down by the SC. Crime has been increasing. The quality of life in NYC has been deteriorating. I can’t think of one positive accomplishment. If you are cognizant of one please let me know. In my opinion, Zoh has gaslighted those who voted for him. I wonder how many of them would like a mulligan.
  3. Kat has provided approximately $8 billion to help close NYC’s huge budget deficit. How is the state going to pay for that largesse? One guess. City Comptroller Mark Levine and fiscal watchdogs have warned that the balanced FY 2027 budget plan relies heavily on one-time fixes, and they estimated deficits ranging from $7.1 billion to $8.8 billion for FY 2028 and subsequent years. In addition, they denoted that certain recurring costs for housing vouchers, public assistance, and municipal overtime, among others, remain underbudgeted in future projections. In reading this I am reminded of George Bush’s characterization of Ronald Reagan’s economics program as “voodoo economics.”
  4. Kat has moved far to the left to placate Zoh and his supporters. In my view she has morphed into a far left tax and spend advocate. An analysis promulgated by the City Journal disclosed that with respect to her last five budgets spending jumped some 40%.
  5. I predict that regardless of her pledge not to raise NYS taxes, if she wins re-election she will do so, and not just on the wealthy. It wouldn’t be her first flip-flop. Some of you may recall she flip-flopped on the Congestion Pricing issue after the 2022 election.
  6. Kat has changed her stance on Israel, Netanyahu, and Jews to curry favor with Zoh, who has made his extreme, unrelenting hatred of Israel, Netanyahu and Jews very clear. She is now more of a hardliner. For example, she recently attacked Netanyahu calling him a “liar.”
  7. Kat has embraced many elements of the excessively-expensive New Green New Deal that is being espoused by Zoh and his far left cohorts and which act to raise consumers’ energy prices. These include oppposing energy extraction and transportation and blocking the construction of pipelines.

CONCLUSION

The pre-election news is not good for the GOP. Most polls still show the Dems leading in most of the battleground states and even making inroads in traditionally “red” states.

Despite all the good Trump has accomplished in his second term, the voters are focusing on the current state of the economy and the Iran War. Although Trump has reduced the rate of inflation from that of the previous administration and the economic forecast for 2027 is very positive, he has gotten no credit for that. Unfortunately voters are only concerned with the present. With respect to the war they are not giving him sufficient credit for ending Iran’s nuclear threat. They’re more focused on the length of the war and the resultant energy price increases.

Unless the Repubs step up their game and soon there is a strong chance that the Dems will capture both houses of Congress. I outlined the disastrous ramifications of that in a previous blog.

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A REFERENDUM ON THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE

As always, the contents of this blog constitute a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my personal opinion, where indicated.

Okay. You hate President Donald Trump. I get it. He can be overbearing, brash, abrupt, embarrasing, and offensive on a personal level. However, we should not be assessing him as a friend; we’re not going out on a date together; we’re not seeking a personal relationship in any way, shape or form. What we want, or should want, is a strong leader who is respected (or feared) by all other nations, friends and enemies alike, who is not afraid to do what he believes is right even though it may not be popular, and who puts the interests of America and Americans first. That, my friends, is Donald Trump. You don’t have to agree with everything he does or says. I’ll bet there’s never been a politician with whom you agree 100%. Just recognize and respect his accomplishments. As I have delineated in previous blogs, they have been numerous.

Heretofore, the Dems have been very successful in putting him on the ballot, figuratively, but that is all misdirection, a ruse, a distraction. They want voters to focus on Trump, not their extreme, outlandish, inane, antisemitic, far left, communist policies. They know that if voters were aware, few of them would support their candidates. More on that below.

Various polls have reported Trump’s approval rating to be in the 30s. These historically low ratings are threatening to drag down Repub candidates in the midterm elections, as many voters are blaming him, unfairly, for a myriad of problems, principally high prices, inflation and the Iran War. The Dems are hoping that by focusing on his unpopularity voters will forget that they, themselves, laid the groundwork for these problems. Additionally, they have not offered any viable solutions, because they have none.

I would like to denote that Trump is not on the ballot in 2026, and he will never be on the ballot again. So, all you Trump-haters need to reassess your focus. Rid yourselves of your TDS. A vote for the Dems and against the Repubs will not hurt him on a personal level. He will be disappointed at the result, but he will merely complete the remaining 2 1/2 years of his second term and leave office to do whatever with the rest of his life. Meanwhile, a vote for the radical, far left, neo-communists who are running for office under the guise of the Dem Party will likely render severe damage to you and to all of America currently and prospectively.

Why? How? Read on for the answers.

  1. In case you haven’t noticed or have been getting your news from CNN, MSNBC, the NYT, WAPO, Tik Tok or various fringe podcasters, the radical left has taken control of the Dem Party. The Dem Party we all grew up with is gone. Schumer and Jeffries are leaders in name only. The real leaders, those who are speaking for the Party, those who are driving policy, are Bernie Sanders, AOC, Zohran Mamdani, and various and sundry of their cohorts. The moderate Dems have gone silent. They have refrained from standing up out of fear while the radicals have taken center stage. They don’t realize that that will not save them. Eventually, they too will be attacked.
  2. The “big tent” is a fallacy, a ruse. There is no “big tent.” The “camel” has taken over the entire “tent,” and the formerly moderate Dems, that is, those who remain, are out in the cold.
  3. The Dems have been accusing Trump of being Hitler, a Nazi. Ironically, it is many of them who are exhibiting elements of fascism as well as communism. Read your history. In my view, the parallels to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia are obvious.
  4. Let’s analyze the Dems’ chief complaints which, other then hating Trump, are with respect to the Iran War and the economy.
  5. Regardless of what some pundits have said and written the war was an absolute necessity. No question! We had to take whatever action was necessary to prevent a nuclear-capable Iran. Trump had the gumption to do what no other president did or would have done. Like I said, he does what’s right, not what’s popular. Anyone who says otherwise is either brain-dead, partisan, or just plain ignorant. You may object to it now, but I predict future historians will applaud it. The evidence was incontrovertible that Iran was only weeks away from attaining nuclear capability. Even the Iranian negotiators admitted it openly. Once it had done so, does anyone think the crazy mullahs who control the country wouldn’t use it? Not just Israel, not just the ME, the entire world, including the US, would be living under the figurative “Sword of Damocles.” I maintain that depriving Iran of nuclear capabilty “trumps” any concerns regarding Trump’s conduct of the war.
  6. With respect to the economy yes, there are issues. Yes, many people are struggling with the high cost of food, fuel, shelter, and other necessities. Yes, we get a “gut punch” every time we gas up the car, buy food, or pay the rent or mortgage. However, it is misguided to place the entire blame on President Trump. We need some perspective. The rate of inflation for the 12-month period ending in August 2026 was 3.4%. For comparison, in 2021 Trump handed Biden an economy with an inflation rate of 1.2%. The Biden Administration’s spendthrift policies caused it to increase to 4/7% in 2021, 8/0% in 2022, and 4.1% in 2023. So, despite the disruptions in the oil supply chain caused by the Iran War, inflation is trending in the right direction. The Fed’s recent rate increase will likely moderate it further. As we learned in the 1970s inflation, once unleashed, is stubborn. It can take years to tamp it down. You oldies should remember; you youngsters should “look it up.” So, I ask you which Party has demonstrated a better ability to control inflation? Whom do you trust to accomplish it? Historically, the answer is the Repubs, hands down.
  7. Moreover, in my last blog I delineated the various signs that the economy is turning and will boom in 2027 and 2028. This is classic economics 101, and it can be tied directly to Trump’s various economic policies, notably last year’s huge tax cut.
  8. The far left radical DSA/communists have managed to obscure their true policies. Their platform includes some very scary and preposterous policies and opinions, such as eliminating the presidency, the Senate, the electoral college, ICE, the DHS and the Pentagon, sharply curtaining the power of the SC, opening the borders again to any and all immigrants, emtying the prisons, and providing universal healthcare cradle to grave to everyone, including illegal immigrants. Not only are these policies unrealistic, they will never work, and some of them are unconstitutional and illegal. Furthermore, they hate Jews and Israel and espouse terminating all aid to Israel, our only reliable ally in the volatile and strategically crucial ME. Basically, they want to shred the Constituion and remake America as a communist state. The DSA candidates for office are denying this, but in running under the DSA ticket they are expressing their tacit support for them. If you doubt me, research their prior quotes and postings.

CONCLUSION

This has been a very perplexing election cycle. As I have blogged before despite the foregoing, the radical, neo-communist candidates are leading or tied in most Congressional races. At the moment it appears likely that they will gain control of one or both of the Houses of Congress. If you had told me this one year ago I would have told you that you were out of your mind, but here we are.

I urge voters not to be gaslighted. In this election cycle you will not just be voting for a person; you will not just be voting for a political party. You will be voting for a way of life for you and future generations. Are you in favor of freedom of choice or government controls? Are you in favor of capitalism or communism? Do you want the government to control every aspect of your life such as your income and wealth, type of job, medical care, food distribution, and your children’s schooling, or do you want to retain control over the lives of you and your family? Do you want to retain the presidency, the Senate and the electoral college or not? Do you want to retain viable borders or open borders? Do you want to incarcerate criminals or let them roam free? These are some of the choices you will have to make on ED. Make the wise choices.

A vote for the Repubs will mean a continuation of the American way of life – capitalism, free enterprise and freedom of choice – that has stood for 250 years. We are not a perfect country, but we are the best. Why else are millions desperate to emigrate by any means, and few elect to leave? A vote for the radicals will be a vote to rip all that up and eventually remake America into a communist state.

As I said in the beginning, Trump is not on the ballot in 2026, but America and the American way of life are. It’s all up to you, the voter. Remember you get the governmnent you deserve.

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GOP PROSPECTS OF RETAINING CONTROL OF CONGRESS SLIPPING AWAY

As always, the contents of this blog constitute a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my personal opinion where indicated.

With little more than five weeks until Election Day according to various polls GOP prospects for retaining control of Congress appear bleak. As I have described in various recent blogs, incredibly, despite the fact that the Dems are running a conglomeration of far-left, neo-communist candidates who should have little appeal to mainstream voters, current polling indicates that they are tied or ahead in most of the key congressional races. How can this be? Glad you asked. Below please find my analysis of the reasons as well as my suggestions for turning the tide.

  1. According to multiple recent polls President Trump’s job approval has declined to record lows, between 35-39%. This is significant, because in the last ten years his popularity has provided a considerable boost to GOP candidates. Almost every candidate that he has endorsed has gone on to win the GOP primary and then the election.
  2. This decline has even been evident among his base. According to a recent poll conducted by the Marquette Law School his approval rating among “very conservative voters” declined from 84% in July to 76% in September. In addition, a recent poll in North Carolina exhibited signs of disaffection between some Republicans and President Trump as some races in which the GOP once had comfortable leads have become competitive or toss-ups.
  3. Putting aside the inane Trump haters the primary reasons are the economy and the Iran War. Only approximately 30% of the public approves of his handling of the economy, whereas approximately 63% have opined that his policies have made it worse. For example, they complain that the tariffis, the rate of inflation and the cost of food, energy, and other necessities are too high.
  4. This result is understandable since consumers are exposed to these items every day.
  5. On the other hand, in my view the criticism of his prosecution of the Iran War is unfounded, simplistic and short-sighted. Yes, it has dragged on longer than many of us had thought/hoped; yes, the end is not in sight; and yes it is the main reason for the high price of oil, which has impacted the entire US economy. However, let’s not forget that the main reason for the war was to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The evidence was overwhelming that it was very close to achieving that, perhaps only weeks away. Iran’s own peace negotiators even admitted it, bragged about it. I and many others maintain that a nuclear-capable Iran would have been disastrous for the safety and security of not just the ME but the entire world, because its crazy leaders would have no hesitation to use it. We destroyed most of their nuclear stockpile and buried the rest under so many tons of debris that cannot be excavated. In my view that accomplishment “trumps” any and all of the negatives. Unfortunately for Trump unlike the oil prices, that success is intangible. One cannnot see it, touch it, or feel it. Thus, it has begun to fade from the public’s memory. It will not help the GOP in this election, but future historians will undoubtedly recognize it as an existential triumph for world peace and security.
  6. As I have reported in recent blogs voters are either unaware of the DSA candidates’ extreme principle policies, beliefs and past statements or are choosing to ignore them. The more extreme candidates like El-Sayed, James Talarico and Sherrod Brown, among others, have repeatedly expressed their antisemitism, anti-Israel opinions, and anti-Americanism, although in order to win a general election recently they have been moderating their tone. Don’t be fooled. Use your common sense. Their lifelong attitudes and prejudices did not really just change abruptly. You can be sure that if they were to gain control they would quickly revert back to their true selves. They will seek to shred the Constitution (e.g. eliminate the presidency, the Senate, the Supreme Court, ICE and the Pentagon, reopen out borders, pass universal cradle-to-grave healthcare for all, and release all prisoners, among others) and remake the country as a communist state. I am not making this up. They have posted these intentions repeatedly (although they may have deleted or altered most of them by now).

Ironically, recently there has been some positive news with respect to the economy. Unfortunately, these positive developments will likely not manifest themselves until 2027 or 2028. As frequently happens the next administration will probably get the credit even though the seeds for recovery have been sown by the previous one. For example:

  1. Illegal border crossings, which were rampant under the previous administration, have shrunken dramatically. The Department of Homeland Security has reported 16 consecutive months of zero releases (“catch and release”) of individuals that had crossed illegally, been detained, and subsequently deported through September 2026. As I have discussed in previous blogs this has had and will continue to have significant and far-reaching positive impact on the US, politically, economically, and socially.
  2. According to the Council on Criminal Justice and the FBI violent crimes in major U.S. cities, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, are all at or near alltime lows..They declined by approximately 10% during the first half of 2026, the latest figures available. This is not a “one-year wonder.” It represents a continuation of the trend in recent years..
  3. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the average life expectancy at birth in the United States is 79, 81.4 for females aad 76.5 for males. These are all record highs.
  4. The economy is growing. The Atlanta Fed has forecast 5% growth for the current quarter. Unfortunately for the Repubs the actual numbers will not be released until after the election.
  5. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate for August 2026 was holding steady at 4.1%. At the peak of the pandemic it was 8.1%.
  6. According to the Consumer Price Index, which monitors changes in the cost of everyday items such as groceries, shelter, clothing, health care and transportation, the rate of inflation over the past year was 2.7%. This rate is not bad by historical standards, and it is line with the Fed’s target rate. Nevertheless, the public’s perception is that it onerous, and in this case perception has become reality. The public is blaming President Trump, which is unfair. Let’s not forget the spendthrift policies of the previous administtration, which pandered to voters and ignited inflation. In my experience inflation, once ignited takes years to bring under control.
  7. The financial markets are booming. As I write this, the Dow is at 51,683; the S&P 500 is at 7,651; and the Nasdaq Composite is at 21,523. Some 44% of US households, or 58 million persons, own at least one IRA. Some own 401k and/or 403b accounts as well. Remember, the financial markets are leading indicators, which augurs well for the future. Persons in all socio-economic categories, not just the wealthy, own these accounts. They are all sharing in this newfound wealth, which is being generated by President Trump’s record-breaking tax cuts and other elements of his economic plan. Furthermore, leading financier, Jamie Dimond, is forecasting a small business boom, a manufacturing boom, and an employment boom. So, I understand the frustration of consumers with prices, but criticisms of Trump’s handling of the economy are superficial, shortsided, unfair, and just plain wrong.
  8. Speaking of inflation the Dems have been advocating a new “Green New Deal.” As usual, it sounds teriffic, money, money money for everyone but it will not work. Moreover, be advised that recent studies estimate the cost to be $212 trillion over the next ten years. That’s trillion with a “T,” and that’s probably understated. Quite simply, if enacted the GND would bankrupt the country. There would be no way to pay for it without printing excessive amounts of money, as if the current deficit is not high enough.

CONCLUSION

In order to turn the tide Repubs need to step up voters’ cognizance of the foregoing. At least, make sure they are aware of what they are voting for. They should focus on outlets where the Dem and independent voters get their news, such as streaming services, Tik Tok, and the like.

Early voting and mail-in voting have already commenced in some states. Many observers expect it to be substantial and perhaps decisive. Historically, Dems have been more prone to vote early than Repubs. This has often put Repubs in “catch-up” mode on ED. Not good. Repubs need to improve their oranization and match the Dems’ early voting totals. On ED they need to be organized and get their supporters to the polls. As always, voter turnout will be crucial.

Repubs, take heed. In the immortal words of the late Yogi Berra, “it gets late early.”

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MID-TERM ELECTIONS TILTING BLUE

As always, the contents of this blog constitute a compendium of multiple media reports supplented by my personal opinion where indicated.

In a previous blog I explained why, in my opinion, this mid-term election was the most critical one in my lifetine, if not ever. The Repubs are clinging onto very slim majorities in both the House and the Senate, and cannot afford to lose any ground. If they do, (1) President Trump’s program will be thwarted; (2) a contentious Congress will be unable to agree on any meaningful legialation; (3) the public will once again be subjected to endless, meaningless and wasteful negotiations; (4) President Trump will likely be impeached again; and (5) the neo-communists will have established a toehold in the federal government.

In my opinion, based on President Trump’s many accomplishments and the fact that the Dem Party has moved far to the left with many of the candidates even embracing communist policies and beliefs the Repubs should be cleaningup. However, the Repubs have some problems, which are hurting them and may prove to be fatal.

  1. President Trump’s popularity appears to be waning. Various current polls place his national job approval rating at a paltry 35% to 38%. Moreover, his approval among registered Republicans has declined to about 78%, which is the lowest in his second term. His personal popularity or lack thereof, has always had a strong influence on the down-ballot races.
  2. President Trump has accomplished a great deal so far, perhaps as much as any previous president. Limitations of time and space preclude me from listing them all here. But, a few of the more significant ones would include (1) extending the “Trump Tax Cuts,” (2) depriving Iran of a nuclear weapon, and (3) securing the border to prevent illegal immigration and reduce the inflow of deadly drugs.
  3. Unfortunately for him most of the voting public is not focusing on those accomplishments at the current time. As always, they are most concerned about the economy, inflation and the cost of basic items such as food, gas, healthcare and rent/mortgage payments. That is where the Repubs are being hurt. Inflation has proven to be most stubborn. The latest rate is 3.4%, which prompted the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time in three years. This will affect consumers negatively in many basic areas such as mortgage rates, credit card debt and car loans. The price of a barrel of oil is over $100. The price of gas at the pump has risen to over $4.00 in many areas. The public is reminded of this every day. This is what it is focusing on.
  4. In the long run depriving Iran of a nuclear weapon will likely become recognized as President Trump’s greatest achievement. Unfortunately, at the moment that is an intangible benefit. It will not help the Repubs in this election. Many people are actually growing tired of the war. As I said, their attention has shifted elsewhere. Iran’s “rope a dope” strategy is beginning to work.
  5. Same with the tax cuts. They will spur the economy, but not until 2027 or 2028, again too late to help with this election.

Conclusion

We still have nearly six weeks to go before the election, but with the advent of early voting it is getting late. As usual, Americans seem to be overly concerned with short-term issues while ignoring the long term. Consequently, we appear to be on the cusp of electing a plethora of neo-communists to the Congress as well as various state and local offices. As I have said in previous blogs these far-left loons/communists hate America. They want to tear it down and remake the country into a communist state. Check out their past comments and postings. They are disguising their true beliefs in order to get elected. For example, suddenly El-Sayed is attempting to distance himself from notorious Jew and Israel hater Hasan Piker. Then, they will revert to their true beliefs.

The Dems have yet to offer any meaningful solutions to the issues they have been ranting about. All they have offered is hatred for President Trump. Evidentally, voters have forgotten how much worse the situation was under Biden.

Turnout will be the key to winning. Repubs must organize and get out the vote!

I hope I’m wrong, but future historians may very well view 2026 as the beginning of the end of America as we have known it.

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