Massive Solar Flair Erupts Yesterday

Apparently we just today experienced the most massive solar flair ever experiaqnced by solar observers, and it was in a whole separate category unto itself involving massive portions of the sun’s carona that covered up a lot of the face of the sun. But the path of the solar flair won’t cause that much magnetic disturbance on the earth because of the trajectory of it and we will only experience a glancing blow. They say that a solar flair in 1851 caused telegraph lines to burst into flames. Somehow I doubt that. But if we had a direct hit from this one it would have caused all sorts of disruption. There was a solar flair in February of this year, and right now we are in the middle of an eleven year peak in solar activity that is expected to last until 2013, which sounds like a long time to me. Someone saw a TV documentary last night where they moved the date of the predicted end of the world from Christmas 2012 to Christmas 2011, or in just a few months. Of course I was just talking on the phone about all these tornadoes and floods and record melting snow packs and massive sudden swings in temperature across the midsection of the United States. We’ll just have to stay tuned.

The latest new unemployment claims are not good. They remain high at over 400,000 and economists say this can’t continue if the economy is to be in recovery. Of course if you liked Paul Ryan you’ll love Tim Pawlenty because his plan is even worse than Ryan’s taking the axe to social security also. Pawlendy wants to lower the maximum income tax rate for anybody to 25% no matter how much money you make. There are certain basic questions Republicans will never answer. One is when they are confronted that business showed its best increases under Bill Clinton when the rate was 39%. They will stop in their tracks, change the subject, knock over the chess board, or whatever metaphor you care to use. The other really big question I have is the oft repeated assertion that “government spending kills jobs. Government spending crowds out private business investment”. How does government spending to this? They now say for Pawlenty’s reform scheme to work at all, business would have to rise five percent per year, every year for the next ten years. And economists say this has never happened. Of course the new charge is that the republicans want to crash the economy prior to next year when everyone stands for election, so that with the U S economy a basket case, they can waltz into the White House with a standard bearer such as Michelle Bachman or a Tim Pawlenty. Now there is a legal battle between the retailers and the banks, as to who pays the credit card charges. It’s been pointed out that while thirty years ago it actually used to cost money for processing credit cards, this cost has shrunk to near nothing now, so that the fees that have crept in everywhere are all gravy to the banks, driving many retailers to deal on a cash only basis. If they want to slap on a charge- - a transaction fee for stocks would work numbers. Because as Sixty Minutes points out, these days the big wigs carry out numerous large stock transactions in fractions of a second. These can only hurt the little guy and commerce in general as all that capital is sucked out of the US economy. All these problems are solvable is a leader has the will to do it. But it’s not all bed news. Stocks are up today June 9, 2011 on news that the trade deficit has narrowed due to increased US exports. This only strengthens my assertion, made for weeks, that the U S dollar will strengthen and that gold prices will fall.

Apparently the argument the pro Health Care people are putting forth to the Court to say that compulsory purchase of Health Insurance is constitutional, is the old “interstate commerce” chestnut that Bobby Kennedy used on business owners in the South to compel them to serve Black people. I find no comfort in this because “interstate commerce” is a clause that used to drive the preverbal mac truck through.. Of course (a) I don’t know what is “interstate” about visiting your doctor and (b) where in the Constitution does it give congress the power to mandate what sort of commerce the people must be compelled to engage in, whether they want to or not. Clearly – even if such a law were to be passed, it would be within the jurisdiction of each state.

It’s notable how many people seek to assume power by constructing “narratives”. So you have the narrative of blacks taking your jobs, illegal immigrants taking your jobs. That Obama is a Moslem sympathizer and that at some crucial development in foreign policy he’s going to “show his true colors”. People in my family have constructed the narrative that I am financially irresponsible. There is the Dr. Levy narrative that energy prices are so high because the President has ordered a halt to all oil drilling when we have tons of reserves waiting to be tapped. Now we are told that Paul Revere rode firing off guns and ringing bells to warn the British that the Americans were coming and they will not tolerate violations of their 2^nd amendment rights. They tried to edit the Wickepedia with their nonsense. What these Republicans really want to do is to transform America into a massive corporatocracy, which we have never had before- - and where individual rights, “the rights of the little guy” gradually wither away till they don’t exist at all.

Let’s talk about types of occupations. I divide occupations into five basic classes, depending less on the type of work but more on the position each class holds in society. First there is WHITE COLLAR jobs. These include C E O’s, Accountants, Secretaries, Brokers, Salesmen, Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Teachers, Clergymen, Psychologists, and Politicians. Then we have PINK COLLAR workers that tend to be service related and tend to be dominated by women although this field includes a lot of men, too. These include – Waitresses, Nurses, Cooks, Orderlies, Lab Technicians, Housekeepers, Beauticians, Bartenders, Tailors, tattoo artists, Bellhops, supermarket checkers, and switchboard operators. Then we have BLUE COLLAR workers. These include electricians, plumbers, repairmen, factory workers, auto mechanics, delivery truck drivers, maintenance workers, janitors, foremen, shipping clerks, bus drivers, law enforcement, military, fire fighters, park rangers. Then we have NO COLLAR workers. These include ditch diggers, construction workers, gardeners, roofers, asphalt pavers, house painters, dock workers, agriculture, and animal husbandry. Finally there is INTEDERMINATE Here no dress code is specifically implied. In this class we have Artists, Entertainers, Actors, Authors, Musicians, and Athletes, or anybody doing business out of their home.