Cult National Leaders

Donald Trump is not the first cult leader and he won’t be the last.

Juan Perón was a populist and authoritarian president of Argentina and founder of the Peronist movement. He set the country on a course of industrialization and state intervention in the economy in order to bring greater economic and social benefits to the growing working class, but he also suppressed opposition.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazilian politician who served as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2011. In 2006, as the end of his first term approached, the economy was growing, and Brazil’s poverty rate had fallen significantly. In July 2017, Lula was convicted on charges of money laundering and corruption in a controversial trial, and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.

“Long live our teacher, our father, our leader, Comrade Stalin!” (1946 poster, Soviet Union). Stalin was the leader about whom the expression “cult of personality” was devised in 1956 by Nikita Khrushchev.

The People’s Republic of China under Chairman Mao Zedong also developed a cult of personality, the most obvious symbol of which is his massive portrait situated on the north end of Tiananmen Square. The culture of the People’s Republic of China before 1978 was highly influenced by the personality cult of Mao Zedong^[] which reached its peak during the Cultural Revolution.

A cult of personality devoted to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi existed in Libya during his rule. His face appeared on a wide variety of items, including postage stamps, watches, and school satchels. Quotations from The Green Book appeared on a wide variety of places, from street walls to airports and even on pens, and they were also put to pop music for public release.

Donald Trump, past president of the United States, denies he lost the election in November 2020 and claims that thousands of ballots will be found in the states he lost will be found proving that he won the election. “The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!” Trump said on Monday May 3, 2021. If anything the former President wields even more control of his party now as Republicans gather at rallies supporting his views.

Republican officials who once had the courage to condemn Trump’s insurrectionist rhetoric are now seeking to ingratiate themselves with his supporters — especially those who may run for President in future, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Kevin GOP House leader, who at first said Trump bore responsibility for the January 6 riot, quickly visited the former President at his Mar-a-Lago resort and is anchoring his effort to win back the House for Republicans next year on the former President and his movement.

Some say Trump is destroying the American democracy as they pledge their support but in their hearts they know he has nothing to offer regarding the future.

The United States will survive the cult. As Ronald Reagan said in his farewell address, “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”

Minnesota’s weirdly shaped northern border

This strange border error resulted in a very small piece of land in the United States that can only be reached by land in Canada. The odd situation was brought to my attention by an article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Reported in the MinnPost. “Minnesota’s Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods is farther north than any other part of the contiguous United States. Logically, it would seem that this area of about 123 square miles should be in Canada. But this oddest feature of the entire U.S.–Canada boundary was the proper result of American treaties negotiated with Great Britain.”

Today the only way to reach the area without driving through Canada is by a boat traveling across Lake of the Woods. 119 Americans live in this area. Its economic survival is based on sports fisherman traveling there in both winter and summer because of the fish living in the lake.

Winter fisherman travel across the frozen lake and stay at an inn in the Angle. Why couldn’t they simply drive through Canada, not permitted now due to COVID-19, is not clear to me. In the summer the Angle could also be reached by boat from the town of Warroad, Minnesota.

Slow Population Growth in California is a Good Thing

With immigration leveling off and a declining birthrate, the United States may be entering an era of substantially lower population growth, demographers said. The 2020 census brought good new to California and other high population centers.

The new decennial census counted 331,449,281 Americans as of April 1, 2020. The total was up by just 7.4 percent over the previous decade.

New York, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia each lost a seat, in addition to California. Texas gained two seats, and Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon each gained one.

The importance of counting as many people as possible was highlighted by New York, which would have avoided losing the one seat if 89 more residents had participated in the census.

Vaccination Passports

Everyone is doing everything in their power to avoid contracting COVID-19. That will be a real dilemma for those who refuse to be vaccinated.

The University of California and California State University has announced that they will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff on campus properties this fall once the Food and Drug Administration gives formal approval to the vaccines and supplies are sufficiently available.

Some of the smaller airlines are starting to require proof of vaccination. As most of the population becomes vaccinated the larger carriers are likely to require that proof too. That same proof may be required to enter concerts, and sports venues. Los Angeles Dodgers have instituted sections for fully vaccinated fans.

Royal Caribbean cruise line has posted this: “At this time, we are requiring guests 18 years and older to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, along with all crew members onboard. Each guest must submit proof of vaccination no later than boarding day. They are not alone. Norwegian Cruise Lines and Oceania Cruise line are also requiring all guests and crews be fully vaccinated.

Those that are not vaccinated may claim their civil rights have been violated if they are denied entry to theme parks and sports venues.

Given that there are vaccination requirements for diseases like yellow fever by many countries around the world and businesses can require drug testing for employment the vaccination passport seems inevitable.

The Washington Post reports “The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials — often referred to as “vaccine passports” — that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen.”

As the number of vaccinated people grows those opposing the vaccination will have to obtain the shots or be blocked from both social activities as well as places to work.

It’s going to happen.

Andromeda Galaxy

The most distant object that most folks can see with the unaided eye is also the closest major galaxy to our own Milky Way. Although the Andromeda Galaxy lies a mind-bending 2.5 million light-years from Earth, its trillion stars are enough to emit a strong glow across the vast reaches of space. Despite the wide gap, the Milky Way and Andromeda are on a collision course and predicted to begin merging in roughly 4.5 billion years. (You’ve been warned.) The Andromeda Galaxy was once thought to be a nebula. Early in the development of modern astronomy, any diffuse, undefined celestial body was called a ‘nebula,’ including what we now know to be a neighboring galaxy. Our modern definition of nebula refers to galaxies-in-training that will coalesce over cosmic time into something less…nebulous.

The WASPS fear they will soon be a Minority

WASP means White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Hard-right House Republicans on Friday were discussing forming an America First Caucus, which one document described as championing “Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and warning that mass immigration was putting the “unique identity” of the U.S. at risk. Marjorie Taylor Greene scrapped a planned launch of controversial ‘America First’ caucus amid blowback from GOP.

Fear of people who don’t look like us is the real issue for many Americans. They don’t look like us and they aren’t part of my religion seems to be the two driving forces that are driving the hate that is tearing the United States apart.

Based on their appearance they must have a difference culture and really aren’t part of American culture seems to be the thought process of many White Americans. People with those thoughts are a shrinking population and they know it. Those people are scared that they may soon be a minority

The United States Census have enumerated Whites and Blacks since 1790. By that time 19.3% of all Americans were identified as Black/Negro. Asians and Native Americans were not counted until the late 1800s. Mexicans were counted as White from 1790 to 1930.

Today, based upon the 2010 census, 72.4% of the population is White. That is a dramatic drop from 1960, 50 years ago, when the White population was 88.6% of the population.

Immigration from Latin American countries continues to be the number nations of origin. The evidence is obvious. When you telephone most businesses their answering system offers two primary languages. English or Spanish. Those WASPS want to stop the changing demographics by limiting immigration from all countries that are not basically inhabited by White people. You know. They want to welcome people from Europe.

The answer. WASPS will have to accept a new reality in the 21^st century. Like it or not.

Bidenism Boom Has Begun

In the weeks leading to Nov. 3, 2020, U.S. presidential election, incumbent Donald Trump had wrongly predicted the stock market would crash if Joe Biden won the election.

Last week, fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits than at any time since March 2020. Last month, retail sales in the U.S. rose by 9.8 percent, the largest increase in nearly a year. Factory activity in the state of New York just hit its highest level since 2017; in Philadelphia, manufacturers are now more confident about business conditions than they have been since 1973.

Oh yes the stock market has boomed. Both the DOW Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 have gained over 9% since January 20.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had projected a 5.8 percent jump in retail sales in March, but the combined effect of the American Rescue Plan’s $1,400 stimulus checks, strong job growth, and rising vaccination rates provided a more potent boost to commerce than experts had foreseen. The rebound was especially strong at restaurants and apparel retailers, which saw 13.4 percent and 18.3 percent increases in overall sales values, respectively. But the surge wasn’t limited to sectors hampered by the pandemic; furniture outlets, e-commerce shops, and other businesses that thrived throughout the COVID crisis still enjoyed an uptick in revenues last month.

What is next? President Biden this week unveiled a massive infrastructure proposal that he says would deliver a “once-in-a-generation investment” in the United States at a cost of $2 trillion will be another stimulus that will employ tens of thousands of working class and middle class workers in decent jobs.