Last week we gave Peoplenomics readers a first look at our book Downsizing. Today, a follow-up chapter. This one deals where to live and we go through a lot of choices.
Key thing is the logic and seeing how the modern city-states work and how states are slowly having their powers diluted through local option taxes and policies that are sometimes counter to federal laws…
A few headlines first and the ChartPack which ponders which way things will break next.A health note: We now know the answer to “Can you still wear your CPAP gear after oral surgery (gum line) on an impacted root of a premolar?”
Um…no…not and get any sleep, that is… (Talk about the use case for drugs…)
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“Pass the Kleenex to Alex Jones.”
No dude, pass the Kleenex to Americans. It’s the root of the war with Iran.
touche! (Well played, as always Stu – )
Get well soon. Consider an “aPauling” intake of Vit C, ie 6-8 grams/day forever, good for the mouth.
I am so disgusted… I went and bought a half gallon of cottage cheese.. what did I get.. A half gallon of milk.. very few curds in it.. now they do that when they are pushing profits.. grrr.. I will make cheese curds..its probably one of the easiest things to make..but I shouldn’t have to..
then I was talking to a friend the medical facilities are starting their annual witch hunt early..they are cutting kitchen and housekeeping.. they always cut from the bottom to justify the top dogs seven figure wages..its an annual event..
“I will make cheese curds..its probably one of the easiest things to make”
Where there’s a will, there’s a whey.
Way out, man…
Thx for weighing in on this.
Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy. You’ve both been conscripted into the Kurdish Army!
Lol lol lol..so true…
Whey to go Mike.
We know you’re just milking that pun to make Hank’s stomach curdle…
In an age where algorithms simulate understanding and digital credentials often outweigh lived experience, there’s something timeless about the gentle reckoning of boots-on-the-ground reality. Like the man from the city who rose early City boy at the farm, determined to prove his usefulness. He returned to the kitchen, weary and proud: “I got all the milking done,” he announced. Silence followed, until one farmer glanced up from his coffee and said evenly, “We don’t have any cows… just bulls.” In that moment, the gap between knowledge and wisdom opened wide. It’s a reminder that systems built on abstraction—be they urban institutions, political rhetoric, or digital personas—often miss the truth humming quietly in the soil.
just make sure its a tit lol lo!
Lol
…(urp!) I had to move away from Wisconsin to avoid the cheese jokes. I guess I didn’t succeed. Y’all stink like Limburger.
Gotta make debt payments…July big month , annually, for Interest/Dividend payments. July and Jan are the two biggies – youse can count on it/ plan on it.
Ya know prep for unemployment with off the books/cash position while you dip into state unemployment funds. Dont be shy, be the guy.
Don’t forget 10% for the BTC Ure going to squirrel away for rainy day.
Go get em Tiger!
Looking out of the box,
The State Dinner held today in St. George’s Hall, Windsor Castle, featured a special cocktail in honour of the visiting French President. Apparently “L’entente” combines “British gin and curd with French pastis”.
President Macron’s wink at the Princess of Wales during a toast was captured by attending photographers. The Princess remained unflustered beneath protection of the “Lover’s Knot Tiara” made famous by the late Princess Diana.
Guest Sir Elton John was paired with the Duchess of Gloucester, a Danish grand daughter-in-law of King George V. Meanwhile Miss Mary Earp, MBE confidently defended her tuffet paired with Sir Mick Jagger. No goals were scored. Miss Earp is the celebrated Team England Vice Captain of a 2023 FIFA joust, and currently is netminder for Paris St Germain in the French league.
1?2 oz Hayman’s London Dry Gin
2?3 oz Luxardo Apricot Albicocca Liqueur
1?2 oz Strucchi Dry Vermouth
1 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
I didn’t know that… everything I’ve seen doesn’t have cheese curds in it.. https://youtu.be/lszMRkbSu1g?si=fR0c7wK51gTmvH0A
What’s funny is I was visiting with a young woman and her husband she’s from a hill tribe in the Philippines.. and she was telling me the wine I presently have in the fermentation tank is a sweet desert wine.. poured over custard or ice cream like a creme DeMint.. or drank as an after dinner desert wine..when this is done I will have them come by with the grand daughter to criticize it give me hints and tricks..till I get it right..since they are well accustomed to it..So it could be used over creme cheese like a fruity spread..
Looking out of the box,
Oops, the Palace used lemon curd in their concoction.
(“Editor of Epstein narrative in chief? Jeffrey Epstein list: Trump defends US Attorney-General Pam Bondi over refusal to release additional documents. Pass the Kleenex to Alex Jones.”)
kind of like the big beautiful bill lol lol…a long-standing tension in U.S. economic policies has been a tight wire balancing act between stimulating growth and protecting working-class interests.Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, recently passed, includes sweeping tax cuts—many of which disproportionately benefit corporations and high-income earners. While it offers deductions for things like overtime and tips, it also slashes funding for Medicaid, food assistance, and clean energy initiative s. Some critics argue this mirrors past patterns, like the Reagan-era tax cuts, which reduced the top marginal tax rate from 70% to 28% and shifted the burden away from the wealthy. Similarly, during Carter’s administration, scheduled increases in payroll taxes disproportionately affected lower-income workers.
In both cases, the top tier gained relief, while laborers faced reduced social support and increased cost burdens.
its like an analogy of a “drill” whitch is kind of poetic—the analogy suggests a tool that extracts value from the bottom of the wage earners while enriching the top by augering the wealth to the top of society. the paradox of prosperity and the politics of velocity.The “department store theology i have had for years ” implies that consumption is driven by need, not greed—and it’s the low-income families, often with children and urgent necessities, who keep the velocity of money circulating. Their purchases aren’t speculative investments; they’re real, immediate transactions. groceries, school supplies, rent, medicine.
This constant movement creates economic velocity, which sustains businesses, services, and production. In contrast, the wealthy, who’ve met their immediate needs, and industries that outsource manufacturing often redirect surplus into savings, stocks, or real estate—slowing the flow by locking capital into abstract or delayed-return instruments.
Outsourcing manufacturing to increase corporate profits may inflate executive salaries, but it comes at the expense of local economies and working-class families. When jobs are relocated overseas, communities lose crucial revenue streams, forcing states to raise taxes and reduce services—costs that fall squarely on laborers already facing stagnant wages and rising living expenses. It’s a system where those with the least are asked to carry the most, all while wealth consolidates at the top and the economic velocity slows as capital is hoarded instead of circulated.
Preach on.
“Farm Worker Amnesty Is Not Amnesty.”
The illegals are only doing the jobs Americans won’t do.
Will Trump follow through on any campaign promise? Amnesia dust from the Chem-trails settle on the constituents. ‘We can’t know about JFK because our very cores will be rattled.”
Stay tuned. Farmer bailouts can’t be far off.
(“The illegals are only doing the jobs Americans won’t do.”)
from scrubbing the bottom of the pile the vast majority of my life..Americans… WILL …do the jobs..From the bottom rungs of society, where survival often overrides legality, Americans have done the work that’s claimed to be the domain of immigrants—field labor, crop harvesting, and long hours under punishing conditions. The real difference isn’t willingness, but visibility. Much of this work is done under the table. unrecorded, untaxed, and often involving children. When I was young, I worked the fields for fifty cents an hour—a rate that wouldn’t raise eyebrows in certain corners, but reflects a system built on quiet exploitation. Today’s narratives ignore this legacy and overlook the continued use of underage labor in agriculture. It’s not that Americans won’t do these jobs; it’s that many already did and still do—without recognition, protection, or fair compensation.
people use the..American citizens refuse to as the claim that “Americans refuse to do certain jobs” as a convenient excuse to sidestep a far deeper problem: the exploitation built into the system itself. It’s not about refusal—it’s about how these jobs are structured, often with unlivable wages, unsafe conditions, and under-the-table practices that bypass labor laws. Many Americans have done this work and still do, especially in agriculture, where undocumented labor and child workers often fill gaps created by economic desperation. The real issue isn’t who’s willing—it’s who’s being taken advantage of, and what systems allow that to continue unchecked. I went back to work.. back in 79-80 I made stained glass windows and etched windows and mirrors.. for a barter systems group…. sitting in the office I couldn’t help but notice..in the center of the office windows one of those things I made for the barter systems store was proudly hanging.. now an old man that has to go back to work if I can keep it up to pay off a bank debt.. one item from a young man barely 21 that was making things to trade for food..the beginning and the end.. I have done some really nasty jobs..one of which I submitted to dirtiest jobs and they refused to do it..yes its that nasty lol lol..seems mike Rowe has some parameters he’s not willing to cross lol lol..
One young lady from Sunday school she walked in..and you could see the concern and fear on her face..she vented to me in tears once upon a time..embarrassed and humiliated at what she had to do to feed her children and survive..I told her after Sunday school relax that was her story not mine to share.. another one that needed a freezer last fall..well I had a small one..she came to the wastelands to escape her husband a supposedly member of the priesthood.. that was sexually molesting his children..she was considering moving back to him in utah..I asked why would you do tgat..financial security..move back put her children in harms way.. when did the priesthood become just a label.. and called holy..
loob, maybe the reason Bondi won’t release files is that Trump’s pics and name shows up too many tiimes, lol, d’uh Homer…
its getting so bad you have fear of criticism and ridicule by pointing out the evil and rigged scams . i really hope mexico, argentina and greece become stronger economies than this thing of a joint. get your bitcon and insert
Greece….Greece’s post-Euro crisis and Argentina’s long-standing economic turmoil reveal a deeper truth: when centralized systems collapse, human dignity suffers—but resilience still finds a way. In Greece, austerity led to heartbreaking scenes—elderly citizens scavenging, and vulnerable women trading their bodies for survival. Yet in Argentina, amidst inflation and scarcity, communities are rediscovering their value by bartering skills and knowledge, reclaiming purpose outside traditional economies. These stories aren’t just regional tragedies—they’re warnings and blueprints, showing how decentralization and communal cooperation can emerge when formal structures fail to serve those most in need.
Come on Leinster – who knew you were so sensitive ?
All the Aussie SAS guys I ever knew were really swell chaps. Plus they were always willing to sing f-up songs about Lizzie, when there were brit soldiers within hearing distance..great guys I would go battle with any day.
So we break some ballz around here – Ure a welcome member..there now perhaps a spot of tea and biscuit ?
yeah you are probably right . i have been 2 emotive . shutup and hold position. sorry to G . play the number . thanks
Not sure what happy juice they gave your for your oral surgery but your column today analyzing “peak urban” is a masterpiece.
By the way, nice to see Andy back. Always enjoy his posts.
“peak urban”
I know these topics were typed about in the past.
“peak urban”
Old-stock (American) suburbanites might be fleeing to the mountains of upper MI but the H-1B visa crowd, who Trump and Musk support, are back filling the loss. The H-1B visa crowd is fleeing their hometowns. The old-stock suburbanites were the crowd who fled the cities back there.
Anyone can look out the window and see what’s happening.
The City of Detroit is being back filled with Hispanic and South Asian folks. The suburbs are being back filled with Middle Eastern and South Asian folks.
What’s NYC being back filled with as the old-stock move to Florida?
My Mom was a ‘youper’ from the UP of Michigan. Hardy lumbering village stock, French Canadian ancestors. Anyone contemplating living there in the NorthWoods had better be adept a winter survival skills. Copper Harbor, MI gets 200-300 inches of snow in winter. Survival property keepers there tunnel thru the snow. Snow blowers are hauled indoors to second floor for exit thru a window out to the porch roof so they can tunnel down .
Hank. Your comment reminded me of the great blizzard of January 1978 that travelled across eastern USA and Canada.
I was in Quebec City on business. The blizzard struck around dinner time and my business partner and I high tailed it to the hotel where all but one room had been taken by bus loads of kids at a hockey tournament. My partner and I bunked in (fortunately 2 beds unlike the Planes, Trains and Automobiles adventure with John Candy and Steve Martin).
Early am, my partner awakened me and said “A snowmobile just went by the window” to which I replied “so what.” He said “we’re on the second floor!”
We found our car that day by poking down through the snow with a long pole to find the roof.
Good report! As a resident, I’m afraid the entire state of California will crash and burn well before 2030. The state government has been controlled by unions, unelected bureaucracies, and Democrats. They have kicked the can down the road for decades and the state is bankrupt. The only reason I can afford to live here near my grandkids is no debt and the Prop 13 cap on property taxes.
The dirty secret of this is. The structural imbalance in our economic model reveals a troubling reality: by disproportionately shifting burdens onto laborers—the essential workforce that sustains societal infrastructure—we provoke a systemic strain that mirrors the behavioral patterns of a disturbed hive. When workers, like bees, face persistent undervaluation and exploitation, the result is not passive discontent but a collective volatility. This reaction is emblematic of a deeper dysfunction: a society that extracts productivity without reinvesting in human capital erodes its own foundation. Unless this trajectory is corrected, the economic swarm will not be a metaphor—it will be a reckoning .
There’s a portion of society cocooned by privilege so thick it distorts reality. They live in neighborhoods buffered by manicured silence, unaware that just blocks away, families navigate crumbling infrastructure, food deserts, and schools stretched beyond limits. The realtor in SanFran he showed that all the time. he was blind to what was happening in the very city he loved. while laborers were homeless forced to use sidewalks as restrooms he lived in comfort sheltered from the view. to him it didn’t exist. Their neighborhoods daily life doesn’t intersect with the middle or working class—not by accident, but by design. Segregation isn’t just geographic—it’s psychological. This blindness breeds detachment. They don’t see the quiet struggle or the resilience it takes to survive on the margins. But blindness is never benign. It insulates the privileged from the consequences of policies that tighten the noose on those already gasping. And when the cracks spread—when the reckoning arrives—it won’t be just economic or political. It will be moral. A demand not just for change, but for acknowledgement. Because the hive they forgot they depend on has been stirring all along.
(“As busy humans, we often don’t take time to study what’s right there, in front of our noses. We look at a scene; and since it looks complete, we snap-shot the concept and move on. We have a distilled thinking template and that’s how most people roll.”)
Its all optics..the shadows on the cave walls…In the rush of daily life, we rarely pause to truly absorb what’s right in front of us. We glance at a scene, and because it appears complete, we imprint a mental snapshot and move on. It’s not inattentiveness—it’s habit. Most people operate within distilled thinking templates, preconditioned to reduce complexity into manageable bites. But in doing so, we miss the nuance—the layered patterns, the quiet truths, the subtle textures beneath the obvious. Sometimes, what’s right under our noses holds the answers we claim to search for elsewhere.
Come-along?
After several consecutive days of self imposed tech desert the resumption finds us drinking from the firehose. Again. Chattering nabbobs abound but we press on consuming actual data feed and marveling at the number of tight-ropes we are walking together (as a world people).
From the PN subscriber side: “The American city-state model?”
I dunno George. City States you name as examples hardly qualify. City States of the old world had walls. Their seat of government was always within a walled city. Modern regional hubs (ex: LA / Frisco) tear down walls. Heck, in CA they even tear down dams and … set their water, source of life, gush into the ocean. They become urban wastelands for the most part.
No AI whiz-bang now / in future or Quantum rig is gonna fix it. I used to be in Chicago 5-6 times annually, half business half take the Mrs. out on the town. Never more … Someone please remember to turn out the lights (it’s the green thing to do after all).
You almost got me with the Zon Prime link yesterday. Logged in and shopped marine foam self-stick (wingnut) boat flooring. Waiting to review color choice with “she who must be consulted” before pulling the trigger. Strangely, the only tool I almost bought was a come-along. I have one but it lost a safety (a keeper, on one of the main shafts). Nah.
Have to save up to make a down payment on vodka soon and?
Swan songs abound, add OrangeMan all at sea (OBSCON).
Stay small. Be nimble. Avoid greed.
Always, Egor
ps – why select UP in upper MI? It’s survivable but most would perish in the first winter matey
I loved my childhood vacations to Grandma’s house for July 4th in the UP. Only went once in winter for grandpa’s funeral. The four seasons there are June-July-August- and… Winter.
I have been to most of these areas. The populations are mostly white and wealthier than average. They are the areas I was thinking about moving to when I was younger so I visited them. Mostly in colder places where people tend to cooperate in bad weather. But even downtown Chattanooga and North Carolina (mostly beach areas) were predominantly white when I visited there 30 / 40 years ago. Perhaps time has changed that.
My daughter said I was racist when I told her my interested locations. I said I was looking for a peaceful spot.
Eleanor
July 9, 2025 at 10:54
My daughter said I was racist when I told her my interested locations. I said I was looking for a peaceful spot.
_____________________________________________________________
It’s a sign that the kids were being exposed to Public School educators. Happens waaaay too much. That’s DEI for you.
Those teachers won’t quit until they ruin the nation.
Of course that is why, in the first place, that you were exploring options AWAY from the failing and ruined parts of the nation.
Best of luck changing anyone’s mind after the Public Education bath of indoctrination by Socialism/Communism. They are being taught that the WORLD owes them a comfy lifestyle- always at someone else’s expense.
It is very depressing to learn of this about your own kids but be a little wary of trusting them to do what you consider “the right thing” if you take them along to re-locate in a better area.
If their attitudes are that distorted, they may bring red smoke on you by the neighbors that won’t put up with their claptrap theories of social justice…
Just about six months into his presidency and seems like all you “smart” people are ready to go back to pedo joe and hairass. If I remember right , the pedo and his gang were arresting American citizens,opened the borders for tens of millions. And he made sure the ILLEGALS were well housed and well fed. Gave them walking around money also. I see some good things Trump has done , and I’m not happy about some things. One thing he did show us is how corrupt the judicial system that obozo and the pedo have set upon America.
(“Just about six months into his presidency and seems like all you “smart” people are ready to go back to pedo joe and hairass”)
not a chance in hell would I want to see the Biden admin back.. Trump has some great ideas..but..Wealth and the Mirage of Value What we call “wealth” today often boils down to flickering digits on a screen—numbers traded in algorithmic loops while the underlying labor force struggles to stay afloat. The problem isn’t just inequality—it’s disconnection. The financial elite thrive in abstract systems divorced from natural resources, community stability, and real productivity. When those systems rupture, it’s not just markets that crash—it’s the illusion of control.Then the Pomp, Illusion, and the Fiat Funnel The economy floats on a fiat funnel—debt pumped into the system like oxygen into a deflating balloon. Every stimulus bill, every market bailout, is meant to maintain appearance, not repair fundamentals. It’s theater for the investor class, not a ladder for the working class. When appearances falter, so does trust—and when trust collapses, currencies follow. Then we have the Survival Beyond Collapse Weimar isn’t just a historical reference—it’s a warning. When money fails, communities either fracture or reforge. That’s why decentralization, ethical barter, and resilient infrastructure aren’t fringe ideas anymore—they’re lifelines. The elite may cling to legacy systems, but those who adapt can build something more honest, durable, and human.The economy’s not just struggling—it’s structurally broken, floating like a cooked noodle on borrowed liquidity. Too much stimulus and it turns to mush; too little, and it tears apart. What’s left is a performance—pomp and circumstance—to keep the elite satisfied as their digital dashboards blink success. But beneath the numbers lies a fragile reality held together by sentiment and illusion. Once it folds, we’re looking at a collapse not just financial, but societal—one that could eclipse even Weimar’s darkest days. Ignoring the depth of this fracture isn’t just naïve—it’s dangerous what’s being done and could end up similar to other leaders in failed civilizations.. He’s smart enough to see this..all he’s doing is the Bernie Madoff twist.. Not growth or stability It’s all just numbers—digital illusions masquerading as real wealth for those who equate value with growth charts and ticker symbols in an attempt to keep the noodle moving as a success until the next administration is sworn in.. The Bernie Madoff twist lives on. projected gains masking systemic freefall. The economy floats on sentiment, not substance, and like Weimar before its collapse, we’re seeing hyper-manipulation of perception while underlying reality crumbles. When numbers become the sole measure of value, and those numbers are engineered to soothe the powerful, collapse isn’t a possibility—it’s a countdown.In the bible its In the biblical narrative, the mark of the beast isn’t simply a physical imprint—it’s a symbolic indictment of a society consumed by transactional value and spiritual neglect. When wealth becomes a number without substance, and economic participation demands allegiance to systems that dehumanize, we begin to mirror Revelation’s warning. The mark—placed on the hand and forehead—can be seen as a metaphor for actions and thoughts shaped entirely by materialism and control. In such a world, fellow humans are no longer seen as sacred beings, but as data points and expendable labor. This love of numbers, divorced from empathy and divine purpose, reflects a system not of enlightenment but of spiritual decay—a beast that trades souls for digits.
everyone is up in arms about Epstein stuff, ,, now the democrats have called for epstein file with Trumps name according to Guardian news
but I remember Q,,, said on a July 9th also,,, the flight log
“3403
Jul 09, 2019 11:21:52 PM EDT
Q !!mG7VJxZNCI ID: c43132 No. 6976233
Jul 09, 2019 11:20:04 PM EDT
Anonymous ID: dbec71 No. 6976189
>>6976179
the flight log!”
https://qalerts.app/?q=%23%233403
a log, click to enlarge
https://qalerts.app/media/c6d6c6c63a8174428af11ed14f02f00ded52004ac8ffe90911535473abca9273.jpg
is someone doing a poker bluffff?” but we gotz no epstein list”,,, now the democrats are demanding it
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/08/house-democrats-epstein-files-trump
now Bribem’s Dr takes the 5th,” i didn’t see nothing”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/07/breaking-bidens-doctor-refuses-testify-pleads-5th/
that brings US back to pResident #46 Otto Penn and his handlers
I smell treason
Hadji’s
See mayoral candidate Ibrahim Bin Goatbuckr
The Epstein file has mostly top of society and leading political members.. they won’t release it..or the tapes.
If Epstein was really acting on behalf of intelligence services, he would have been providing services based on quantities and grade of entertainment, with some sort of quid pro quo payment arrangement, without a paper trail that do-gooders could follow. And the home movies belonged to whomever paid the bill. Bad guys stay in business by keeping their business very private.
(“If Epstein was really acting on behalf of intelligence services”)
Not on behalf of intelligence services…similar to weiners file ..LIFE INSURANCE policy… although that didn’t help any of the hundreds of friends that committed suicide some of whom used multiple guns to be sure they succeeded that were so sad about having to give testimony about one past administration and the things they were accused of being involved in..
“sometimes counter to federal laws”
Sometimes people call it overreach/sometimes they advocate.
Somehow thought patterns are influenced. People will complain about inflation then go along with Fed debt expansion and lower Fed rates. Ask on Cheetos is up to about $5.00 a pound now. Plenty of fireworks, people are flush.
Urban Problems wrt decay … my major in college, Urban Planning-specialty in Finance.
Decades of viewing the problem from the outside (instead of actually working in the field I went on to graduate work in another field) has given me a SIMPLE view of the problems in the US for the older urban population complexes.
The growth of of the economics of the products made in a given area will determine the base level of what takes a small city and makes it a huge city, but the urban collapses, as those products cease to be produced, such that the collapse can not be stabilized boil down to simple basic underlying problem … CRIME.
If Crime can be kept away virtually all places in the US that have had major economic declines can bounce back over time, and have bounced back.
Unfortunately in the US usually CRIME starts to take over many of those places even before their local ecomony runs into trouble. Once street crime type of activity becomes typical for an area then the ability of that location to bounce back from an economic downturn almost totally disappears. (a local Court System that does NOT punish wrong doers only hastens the speed of the decline) The core of Detroit proper is a good example of this dynamic at work, a city that now has blocks and blocks going for miles in fact where there are only a few buildings left on each block due to people fleeing the crime. Gary Indiana is a smaller but very valid example too.
(the same dynamic works with Shopping Malls … once street crime including shootings invades a shopping mall the paying customers FLEE and the mall is on it’s last legs as the only people then going there are people who can’t afford to buy anything there)
All the places you mentioned have a VERY LOW crime problem, which is why they are desirable places to live for those who are the Wealth Creators, and the Hard Workers of society (except Northern Michigan … little crime but NO JOBS there and NO POTENTIAL for future jobs there since the mining industry mostly collapsed up there – not sure why it is on the list) .
Productive people and Creative people do NOT want to deal with Street Crime … they FLEE living among it or having to deal with it on a daily basis.
Unfortunately there is certain segment of American Society that at times CELEBRATES Street Crime, sees little to nothing wrong with it. When those types move into an area, no matter what their color or ethnic background, it is a GUARANTEE that the area they move into WILL DECLINE. as the productive and creative types who create the wealth of an area FLEE, little or no punishment for that crime only hastens the decline.
America’s failure to Invest For the Future is NOT limited to just government!
DO NOT INVEST FOR THE FUTUE became the rallying cry for the Financier Class of America over the last 35 years as they decided to CLOSE factories left and right in the United States (90,000+ manufacturing businesses closed in the US betwen 1990 and 2025, many of them employing hundreds to thousands) and those business instead became middlemen only between the REAL product producers in China and the buyers in the United States.
Why invest in modernizing plant here when you can get the Chinese to build the product for you without you having to put up any money? (ie: you just become a middleman, you are NO LONGER a producer) The Harvard Business School Model run amuck!! SHORT TERM PROFITS is ALL THAT MATTERS! (shoot now we can’t even build our F-35 fighters without parts and materials from China – by doing that we could build them CHEAPER …. um, how is that going to work out if we go to War with China over Taiwan?)
To “save” or “bring back” a city or urban area that has fallen on hard times the FIRST item of business has to be to Get RID of the Street Crime. Only then can the producer class of people be enticed to move back and start producing again.
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2025.html
‘Given the increasing politicalization of criminal legal system facts in recent years, it bears repeating that we do have up-to-date crime statistics from the FBI that affirm that crime remains at historic lows. Preliminary data from the first half of 2024 shows that nationwide, the crime rate for all Index crimes likely hit it’s lowest point since 1961 last year.’
U.S. 4th largest prison population (per Capita) of all countries:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/
IMO the local economy begins its collapse before the crime arrives. The first stage of street crime is for sustenance, as too many folks on the bottom rungs have too much month left at the end of their money. Drugs, smokes, and booze — all elective vices but all addictive, and all comforting to a degree, hasten the bottom of the paycheck.
When I was in college, I lived in a city which was at the apex of an equilateral triangle of cities. We each had a large (automotive) “anchor” and many hundreds of small factories. When I started my cstore career (over 50 years ago), I was already working a full-time job and going to school full time. Within a year at the store, I met perhaps a dozen hookers, aged between 6-11, and at least 50 other kids who shoplifted to avoid starvation (we ran ~$11.5k in quarterly losses on an inventory of ~$48k.) My store had three phone booths out front, and the little girls would drop a dime to make their $2-$5 hookups (the cops got the basement price.) I didn’t realize any of this until years later. I had an MG, a Harley, a hot GF and a budding career as a musician, and the jobs were simply a way to pay tuition and take my Lady out once or twice a week. I came, I worked, I left, I paid attention to nothing.
When eight of the locals came in one night to roll me (Bigmouth: “We think you should open your cash register and give us all that money.” Me “I think that’s not going to happen. You want it? Come and take it.” {end of discussion. I hate talking when it’s fightin’ time}), I stared them down, knowing no matter what else happened, I was going to kill the 19yo kid who was the Golden Gloves champion, because he was the toughest of the bunch, and I knew none of them had an upbringing which could hold a candle to mine. Fortunately, after 3-4 minutes, they decided they wanted no part of me, and left. The kid who warned me they were coming was an urchin I’d banned from the store for stealing. After that night, I allowed him (and his 5 sisters) back in the store. 20 years later, two of the sisters opened what became a successful café. I had no idea — happened to stop in during my yondering, and got re-acquainted with them. They told me I saved their lives, because for over two years, the only food they had to eat was the food they stole from my store.
That town where they grew up had over 450 factories and a population of over 80,000. It was a “Class-A” nuclear target (as were the other two cities in the “triangle”), because they were completely self-sustaining. Today, it has 7 factories and a population of under 50,000. The college I attended is by far, the largest employer (when I attended, it was roughly the same size, but not in the top five), there were over 20k school children and now there are under 5k.
The one thing the city never had was a flood of serious, violent crime (yeah, 1st graders putting out is a pretty serious crime, especially for the Johns, but it was still statutory and consensual, not violent, forcible rape.) Rapes, murders, strong-arm or armed robberies, even carjackings, are infrequent. Yet, the population is dropping, the infrastructure is crumbling, the schools are failing, the roads don’t get paved, and the #1 crime is (look surprised) arson, of single-family domiciles. IMO it’s like a thousand other “Class-B” and “Class-C” cities in the rust belt — slowly dying, because it no longer has a reason to exist. They’re not all like this. Kalamazoo Michigan, Wabash and Richmond Indiana, Toledo and Akron Ohio are booming. At the same time, 37 counties (or is it 39, now?) in Southern Illinois want to secede from Illinois (Indiana and Missouri are wooing them) to get away from “the Chicago effect.”
I’m not sure “crime” is as causative as it is, symptomatic, and the result of a city going on a dosh-rampage. Once you give da proles free stuff, they will fight to the death, some of them literally, to keep it, and demand ever-more whilst doing so. This is the root of the “problem” between President Trump and Mr. Musk. Trump has learned there are some things you cannot do, if you wish to accomplish anything in politics. Musk sees all the waste, and thinking like a CEO, believes it should all simply stop. As for the current rioting, it’s all Astroturf, financed mostly by wealthy Leftists who wish to see the U.S. die, and partially (still) by the American taxpayer. It is suborned by a bunch of political animals (like that idiot who calls herself the Mayor of L.A.) who’ve never read a history book, and who believe their relevance will increase once the U.S. is no more…
(“Productive people and Creative people do NOT want to deal with Street Crime … they FLEE living among it or having to deal with it on a daily basis.”)
so true…the sad part is even those that are trying to escape their crime ridden neighborhoods are forced to stay there..Young men and women often turn to education as a lifeline—a way to escape the grip of crime-ridden neighborhoods and rewrite the trajectory of their lives. But the cost of that escape is steep. Tuition, fees, and living expenses pile up, and for those without financial support, student loans become the only option. What was meant to be a ladder out becomes a chain that binds them to the very social classification they sought to flee. Instead of stepping into new opportunities, many find themselves returning to the same neighborhoods, burdened by debt and limited by the economic realities that education was supposed to overcome. The system promises freedom through learning, but delivers captivity through cost. its extremely hard to move to the other side of the tracks of fate.
The cycle of economic growth followed by eventual decay takes many forms across the globe. I grew up in 1950s-70s Pittsburgh, a steel making and coal mining area. One of my many summer jobs while in H.S. and college was working the coke ovens, where coal dust is turned into ‘coke’ (not the REAL thing, but a carbon-dense lump used to turn iron ore into steel). Dirty, hot, labor intensive work. And the men (all men in ‘the. day’) who did that work were largely of E. European descent or flat out immigrants, which was the origin of the term ‘mill hunkie.’ And as for coal, which fuels steel making, my maternal uncles and my maternal grandfather, who all legally immigrated from what is not Ukraine, worked the mines in W. PA. They all bought and paid for their houses, cars and the education of the children (usually in parochial schools).
Now it is the folks south of the border who hope to make a living and support their families here in the ‘land of the free.’ My paternal and maternal ancestors all immigrated legally, thru NYC or Baltimore, MD, and that is the difference from today – the ONLY difference, but a big one. Today, migrants will use any method, many illegal, to gain entry in America. I understand the desperate circumstances driving these humans to migrate from their homelands and into America, which many consider to be ‘the promised land.’ On one hand, I firmly believe that they should use the legal immigration system to legally enter America. On the other hand, bureaucratic incompetence leads most to enter the country any way that they can.
I recall one episode of the PBS series ‘Finding Your Roots,’ which hosted Nancy Pelosi. During that episode, it was revealed that her father could not get into the US from Italy via ‘legal’ immigration channels, so he went to Canada, and then ‘found his way’ south into the U.S. One has to admire his determination and innovation, however, there are legal issues that are glossed over in this wonderful (for Nancy Pelosi) story. But legal issues are immaterial to the progressives. It is the ends which justify the means. And frankly, in time, no one actually really cares. And THAT is how we as a nation will ultimately fail.
‘Thing is: How many millions of the gate-crashers came only because Messrs. Soros and Steyer financed and facilitated their move? The army-sized Chinese contingent and the division-sized Hamas/Hezbollah terror cells are one thing, but the vast majority of the illegals Biden let in were paid a year’s (or two year’s) wages (@ $3150US/yr — the world average for family earnings), fed, clothed, and hauled to within a few miles of the border, then introduced to legal counsel and coached on what to say, how, and when…
For Ure resident math whizzes- can the new Google quantum computer break crypto security schemes? How fast would such a computer have to be?
WRT the Chinese quantum computer breaking of a brute force encryption scheme:
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years in y2k time equals
~40 minutes in quantum time.
I assume Google’s and Musk’s quantum computers are no more than a factor of 10, slower.
You decide…
Epstein Files
I can’t say that I am surprised.
I can say that I am disappointed.
Amen…
I never thought that they would actually release any of it..my guess is its so bad and so deep that its quite sobering at just now dangerous it could be.. to many in the power positions that safety would be difficult to maintain after the disclosure of the list.
re: “…lend me your ears.”
feat: “Julius Caesar”, 1599, The Bard
Folks,
Newly minted Mr. and Mrs. Soros appear to be following in the footsteps of newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Bezos by taking their honeymoon in Sicily. Mr. Soros published an image taken of he and his wife to his social media. One setting chosen was the cave housing the Ear of Dionysius. Legend has it that Dionysius imprisoned political dissidents in the cave. Then he eavesdropped on their plans.
Speaking of Italy, the Pope is reportedly easing into his first week of summer leisure break at Castel Gandolfo. The President of the Ukraine stopped by there today.
Reminds of old joke about Cary grant being buried with Ass sticking out of the ground.
Reason? So his friends could stop by for a Cold one.
Don’t you UREpeons like em warm ?
I thought that was Rock Hudson…