The Trump Economic Policy

Two days ago Treasury Secretary Bessent delivered a speech at the Reagan National Economic Forum. Power Line's John Hinderaker has key excerpts in his column here.

Bessent is one of the stars of the Trump second term cabinet. He does an excellent job of spelling out the President's economic approach, with which I take no issue.

A key point Bessent makes is that sending manufacturing overseas weakens our military posture. Instead he maintains that "economic security is national security." And he stresses that seeking economic security is not an argument for isolationism.

The Hinderaker column is somewhat long but I found it a good read.

The Risks in Tanning

Instapundit links to an article about a resurgence of interest in tanning among the young. And it notes correctly that too much sun isn't good for the skin, so say dermatologists.

I write to add my caution to that of the skin specialists. I have a fair Northern European skin with undertones of pink. I grew up in rural SoCal and got sunburned way too many times as a youngster and teen. 

Then came along President Kennedy who popularized adult men going about without a hat at roughly the time I became an adult. So most American men not in uniform went hatless for decades. 

Needless to say I got too much sun, cumulatively, and have skin damage. Twice yearly visits to a dermatologist have been part of my life for decades. It seems normal to me as my not-young father did the same as I was growing up.

At every visit I have pre-cancerous spots to freeze off, sometimes on the arms but mostly on the forehead, ears and face. In at least 5 instances I have had basal cell carcinomas (cancers) removed surgically, via what is called a Mohs procedure. 

A couple more were done with radiation. I don't recommend radiation except as a last resort, which mine was not. So far I've had no skin cancers that were life-threatening, but the risk is real. 

Needless to say I now wear a hat whenever outdoors. Breaking the habits of a long lifetime aren't easy but  after a year or so hat-wearing began feeling normal. I now feel "wrong" without my hat.

Bottom line:  Tanning isn't worth the grief later on, in my experience.

Saturday Snark

Images courtesy of Power Line's The Week in Pictures

and its Comments section.

Image courtesy of Instapundit.

Images courtesy of Sarah Hoyt's

Day of the Living Memes.

Update

We took our niece to the airport in Jackson today, the roundtrip is probably 120 miles. It is a Friday and her flight went at 1 p.m. so we were driving in the late morning.

I'm hearing a lot of moaning about high gas prices, but guess what? It sure isn't keeping people off the highways, the traffic was substantial. Jackson was full of tourists, the airport parking lot was almost full, and lots of expensive petroleum products were being consumed.

As the other DrC notes at her blog, everything is showing various shades of green, a real treat for our eyes grown accustomed to the desert's tans, yellows, browns, and reds. 

The work of putting a winterized house back into operating condition continues apace. We work for a few minutes, then rest for a few more, it is getting done. 

Later (actually Sat. a.m.) … I forgot to mention, by moving 500+ miles north, and ‘uphill’ some 4000+ ft. we went backwards into Spring. At this time of year while NV already is hot, WY is not. In fact we are having rain today and the high won’t go to 60℉. 

We both experience springtime pollen allergies. Every year we get two doses of stuffy noses, first in NV, then again in WY. Obviously, while not fun, it is worth putting up with.

Friday Meme Fest

Images courtesy of Politico's

The Nation's Cartoonists on the Week in Politics.

Images courtesy of RealClearPolitics'

Cartoons of the Week.

Yale Chooses Quality

Yale has reinstituted the SAT/ACT tests for all new admissions, after abandoning them in 2020. This is excellent news and perhaps a harbinger of similar changes to come at other elite institutions of higher education. Their announcement states:

These test scores are strong predictors of a student’s future Yale academic performance, and there is evidence that they are less subject to bias than other elements of an application.

It was true before 2020, was true when abandoned, and is true today. Intelligence and learning are great predictors of success in college. 

College was, is, or should be, where the nerds finally come out on top while the slackers and those with average or less mental horsepower get weeded out. What Yale has done is a big step back toward that ideal state.

So sayeth the emeritus professor whose blog this is ….

Update

We made it! Yesterday was a long day, lots of miles, several stops for restrooms and lunch, one for fuel. Plenty of trucks on the road but traffic only dense through SLC, and never slow. It was tiring but with the west wearing its spring green, a pretty drive.

In the intermountain west distances are long and the Interstates are good. Much of the drive was done at a lawful 80 mph. This must feel very alien to people who visit from the crowded New England area.

We’re home in WY and the house made it through the winter with no problems. We found a windfall aspen down partially across the driveway but a good neighbor and his son solved that problem for us.

No longer young, or even middle aged, we need help here and there but have been fortunate to find it.  Our niece Karen, a retired deputy sheriff, flew to NV to help us with the drive north and has been a big help. She’ll fly home to CA tomorrow. 

NV is nice but our hearts are here in the high country, speaking of which, much of the Utah we drove across yesterday is at 5-6000 ft. elevation. Our place in WY is at 6300 ft. and we’ll notice the thin air when climbing stairs for a few weeks till our bodies produce more red blood cells. 

Now to settle in and enjoy a high country summer - it basically resembles late spring anyplace else.

Where the Jobs Are

COTTonLINE is interested in policies related to migration within the US. Power Line’s John Hinderaker brings us a chart assembled by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. It reflects the percent change in total personal income, adjusted for inflation, over the period 2000-2024, for blue states and red states.

The results are these: Red states have experienced a 71.2% increase. Blue states have only experienced a 49.2% increase over that same 25 year period.

Hinderaker summarizes what this means.

People are moving to red states for lower taxes, certainly, but more fundamentally, for better job opportunities. Those job opportunities are reflected in total personal income growing much faster in red states than blue states. Also, these numbers are pre-tax, so the disparity is even greater with respect to after-tax incomes.

Hat tip to Connie Francis for my title.  

Paxton Si, Cornyn No

Various sources are predicting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will handily defeat incumbent Senator John Cornyn for the Democratic nomination for Senator. Cornyn was elected to the US Senate in 2002, and was part of the group of Texas Republicans led by George W. Bush, who was elected in 2000.

I’ve asked myself if there was any desirable conservative policy with which Cornyn was closely associated. I could think of none.

Moving him off the national stage is a further piece of the movement to rid the GOP of the Bushies. They were the coterie of globalist, corporatist Republicans who liked illegal immigration and exporting manufacturing off-shore. Most view Karl Rove as the Bush éminence grise.

The MAGA version of the GOP tends to view the Bushies’ era with embarrassment, marveling at the lost opportunities and its membership in the Deep State.

Honoring Our War Dead

Today we pause to honor the men and women who have died defending the United States of America. Freedom is not free, it was won by people willing to die for our independence.

Once won, keeping our freedom was also not free. Many people have died defending its continuation, and more will do so in the future. 

We honor them all on this day; those who died that we might live free, and those who have joined the several branches of our military, swearing to fight and die for that national independence.

Those who died are gone, they are not forgotten. We honor their memory.

Update

The process of getting ready to migrate north for the summer is well and truly underway. When I finish this blog post I will shut down the Mac mini and pack it for the trip. I'll be on I Pad for the next few days, which will be hectic.

We've tried to minimize what we take, leaving duplicates at both houses, but it turns out to be easier said than done. I dread when we have to eventually consolidate everything in one house, which will eventually happen, at a time when we are less able than now. Likely much will simply go to the WY landfill when that sad time arrives.

You'll note I said WY, not NV. As a couple of CA natives, neither of us wants to cope with the long, cold winters at 6300 ft. elevation. So we'll end up coping with the equally long NV summers, which are brutal in their own way. 

Ideally we would have ended up living somewhere along the central CA coast dealing with no brutal weather ever. But CA under current administrations is a paradise lost. Hat tip to John Milton for the felicitous phrase.

Rumors of a Treaty

The New York Post reports Iran has agreed to give up its enriched uranium stockpile and forego nuclear weapons, as conditions for a peaceful settlement with the US (and Israel). Final details remain to be settled.

Verification now and in the future will be the major sticking point. Nations in general, and especially those with violent intentions, are loath to have foreign agents poking about their defense establishments. Yet that is what will be required to verify treaty compliance. 

I hope no one in our government is convinced that Iran is dealing in good faith; their holy writ specifically endorses deceiving enemies - al taqqiya. On the other hand, if they fail to permit third-party(?) inspection at some future time, we will still have the equipment and know-how to again bomb them into rubble.

You can be sure Iran expects our next presidential administration, or the one after that, will be willing to look the other way while they restart their nuclear weapon program and once again stir up rebellion in the region. It's what I would do in their situation - bide my time and await another Obama or Biden clone. China's Xi also has this in mind, no doubt.

Saturday Snark

Reminds me of Miss Terry, 

my hot 7th grade English teacher,

.

Images courtesy of Power Line's The Week in Pictures

and its Comments section.

Image courtesy of Lucianne.com.

Administrative bloat, typical of

universities and NGOs.

Images courtesy of Sarah Hoyt's

Saturday, Memeday.