Voters Like to Look Up to Their Elected Officials as Long as They Do Not Strain Their Necks

03/20/18 Washington Times summarizes a Washington Post story.  I would link directly to the WaPo, but "Democracy Dies Behind a Paywall."  (Yes, I know that they need to pay their reporters, but the sanctimonious tone bugs me.)

A D.C. Council member who apologized over the weekend for suggesting that Jewish financiers control the weather has propagated the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory in the past.

D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr., a Democrat, claimed that the Rothschilds — a European Jewish banking family descended from Mayer Amschel Rothschild — control the World Bank and the federal government during a Feb. 27 gathering of top city officials, The Washington Post reported Tuesday morning.

“There’s this whole concept with the Rothschilds — control the World Bank, as we all know — infusing dollars into major cities,” Mr. White said, according to video footage reviewed by The Post. “They really pretty much control the federal government, and now they have this concept called resilient cities in which they are using their money and influence into local cities.”

Love It

Sen. McCaskill's Republican challenger is running ads with Hilary Clinton's attacks on Red America as a reminder of what McCaskill's party stands for.  If every Republican did this, I think the predicted Democratic landslide next year might be less than the MSM expects.

Maybe Cruz Wasn't the Only Ticking Time Bomb at That School

These tweets report that at least two of the students have been arrested on weapons charges, both involving threats involving knives.  Remember: allowing teachers to be armed is irrational overreaction.

Today's Exotic Request

8-32 x 4" Torx or Allen head screw.   Black would be nice.  I can find Phillips head but I would like a drive not likely to be destroyed by repeated tightening.

Has Anyone Besides Me Noticed How Many of These Accusations Are Against Leftist Hollyweirders?

3/19/18 USA Today:

Led by attorney Lisa Bloom at a press conference in Los Angeles Monday, two women who had previously accused Steven Seagal of rape and sexual assault told their stories about the actor's alleged misconduct.

Originally revealed in a January report by The Wrap, actress Regina Simons said she was 18 and an extra on Seagal’s 1994 film On Deadly Ground when he allegedly raped her, while former model Faviola Dadis said she filed a police report about Seagal in the last month, saying he groped her during an audition in 2002.

During the press conference, Simons said that Seagal raped her after inviting her to his house, claiming he was throwing a wrap party. She said that he was twice her age at the time, and she had not had a sexual encounter with a man before that experience.

I remember watching On Deadly Ground and finding its environmentalism more than a bit preachy.

Another Hate Crime

Hatred of all traditional Christian religions is underway as usual.  3/19/18 CBS New York:

PORT JEFFERSON STATION, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — A statue of the Virgin Mary was beheaded in Port Jefferson Station over the weekend, according to Suffolk County Police.

The statue was vandalized at the Church of Saint Majella in Port Jefferson Station sometime between Friday and Sunday.

Learn From My Stupid

A couple years back, I moved some of my maturing bonds into various high yielding stocks.  You should always keep track of how the stocks are doing; far more important than for stock mutual funds.  A number have dropped in value because rising bond yields made them less advantageous.  A few that paid handsome dividends (like Frontier Telephone: FTR), no longer pay a dividend.  A couple of the stocks that are technically partnerships have disappointing returns that make the annoying paperwork of Schedule K-1 at tax time too much work.  (One still has a 10% annual return.  I'll keep that one.)

Instead of buying high yield common stock, buy mutual funds or preferred stocks.  My Barclays preferred stock has been giving me 8.125% dividends annually for many years.  While there are no guarantees, the preferred stocks often have some minimum surrender value.

Ruger:RGR and American Outdoor Products: AOBC, owner of Smith & Wesson have been beat up by impending gun control, more than makes any rational sense; both firms have significant product lines in no danger.  Buying because you respect what a company does is never wise; take out a billboard instead; it's cheaper.

A number of these dogs will be taken behind the barn and shot, what is left will be reinvested in mutual funds.  FOCPX has had a 35.74% annual growth; LGILX: 35.76%; CPOAX: 44.6%; LCEIX, which I bought $10,000 of about 20 years ago, is now a bit more than $49,000.  The last year was only 3.06% growth.  When you shoot dogs, the capital loss wipes out an equivalent amount of capital gains.  This is why this is usually done late in the year; get the full benefit in reducing taxes owed on your capital gains.  But you only get to take a $3000 net capital loss per year to reduce your income for tax purposes.  Capital losses beyond $3000 can be carried over to following years.

The other reason to keep track regularly is that my GE bonds matured, and I had a pretty impressive amount of money in a cash account for most of a month, instead of re-invested in one those mutual funds.

Curiously, even though the DJIA is down more than 300 points, several of the dogs are worth more now than they were three hours ago.  Not dramatically better, but I have suspected for some time than my Schwab portfolio was  at least in part contrarian.