As America nears the all-time high unemployment rate of 20% for May, the numerous bankruptcies indicate that unemployment is worse than most believe. Next week the unemployment numbers for May will be released. Many expect the rate to be over 20%. The problem with the unemployment numbers is that they count workers who qualify for… Read More Bankruptcies Make Bodes Worse For Unemployment Numbers
Over the last few weeks I have been producing visuals of the Covid-19 pandemic. The infographics are designed to provide complex information in an easy to digest format. The news media leads with the number of cases and deaths without giving consumers context as to what the number mean. The following are two are my… Read More Visualizing Covid-19 Global Cases and Mortality
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 185!
We are a drain on the American economy they say. We seek America for benefits. We are takers and give nothing back. That is what the anti-immigrants say. That is what they want you to believe. Never mind that immigrants make America great. This has been proven many times, but the anti-immigrants refuse to believe… Read More We Are A Drain On The American Economy They Say
There is an ongoing debate on whether mandatory lock downs are hurting the economy, or they are not. Part of those who are advocating for their right to remain open support the idea that Americans are a free people and that government should not interfere with their basic rights. The problem with this thinking is… Read More June is The Pivot Point
How deadly is Covid-19 seems to be on the minds of many. And, for good reason. Although some tend to believe that the disease is unprecedented, there have been six previous pandemics to hit the United States. The first in 1910 and the latest is Covid-19. To make sense of it all it is important… Read More Covid-19 Compared to Previous Pandemics
To fully understand how incompetent the Donald J. Trump administration has been in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic one needs to look at the cold hard numbers of death. The problem is not that the pandemic was unexpected. Every country has had to deal with it. The problem is not the growing numbers of unemployment… Read More The Incompetence of Donald Trump Through The Covid-19 Numbers
As many readers likely know, Donald Trump uses the immigration debacle and immigrants as fodder for his political base. The Trump base hears immigrants are bad and that Trump has closed the borders. The reality is that Donald Trump is relying on immigrants to get the country back on track after the pandemic ends. Most… Read More The Trump Immigration Problem and The American Way of Life
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 185!
On Monday, April 11, Mexican foreign relations minister, Marcelo Ebrard posted on Twitter a clarification on the diplomatic note the Mexican government had sent to the U.S. Embassy recently. The diplomatic note asks the U.S. government for information and documents pertaining to the ATF Fast and Furious operation that allowed U.S. guns to enter México… Read More AMLO, Trump and Fast and Furious
Today, there is an estimated 20.5 million Americans without a job. It is an estimate because the true numbers of unemployed is unknown. About two weeks ago in “The Pending Unemployment Catastrophe” (link) we looked the unemployment rates from the Great Depression onward. Although the unemployment numbers released for April are not the 20%, I… Read More Unemployment Numbers for April 2020
The world is full of shysters always looking for a quick buck to make. The why let a good pandemic go to waste is what is driving today’s shysters. Unless you are literally living under a pile of rocks then you have seen the many videos and ads for masks and quick “remedies” for the… Read More The Plandemic Shysters
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 184!
In yesterday’s post I posed the question: are we taking advantage of the time we have been idle the last few weeks because the pandemic forced us from our jobs? In that post I described what a passive income is. In today’s post, I wanted to share my personal experiences with passive income. Years ago,… Read More What I Learned About Passive Income from Covid-19
Passive income is often a controversial topic because there are many shysters peddling get-rich-quick schemes based on the idea of getting paid for doing nothing. Others argue that passive income is only for the rich. Most equate passive income as income derived from rental properties or financial investments. But often overlooked is the passive income… Read More The Passive Income Economy and Covid-19
Depending on what media outlet you are reading you are likely to get two or more versions of the real story. This has been true for years because biases are part of what is published for public consumption. Take for example remittances from Mexicans working in the United States, both legal and undocumented and the… Read More Mexican Remittances And Covid-19
Yesterday we visualized Covid-19 cases, deaths and unemployment across the nation. We also learned from various news sources that on Friday, we will learn the latest unemployment numbers. Some analysts are bracing for unemployment figures to be 16% or above. If that holds true, the unemployment rate will be close to what it was during… Read More Covid-19 And Unemployment Analysis
There is an ongoing debate about opening the country’s economy. The issue centers around the notion of whether it is safe to get back to work. In the discussion there is also the issue about the rising unemployment numbers. Although the actual unemployment numbers are yet to be collected, anecdotally they seem to be as… Read More Visualizing the Correlation of Covid-19 and Unemployment
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 183!
After twenty years of work, it is now live – Amitor®. I have been working on this App for about twenty years. It has been a dream and it has finally come to fruition. Today, it officially launches. Now, the hard work begins. I need to keep it relevant and serving the needs of its… Read More It’s Alive!
America, the world and all of us have been through and are living an unprecedented global crisis. Not only has our social reality changed, but our psyche and our livelihoods are experiencing some drastic reality checks. Not since the Great Depression has the future looked so bleak. The fundamental reality we must all embrace is… Read More Tomorrow Is The Day!
As America starts to prepare for the reopening of the economy there is a serious problem awaiting everyone. Officially America’s unemployment rate hovers around 4.4%. That is the official government number before the pandemic killed the economy. Anecdotally, the unemployment rate is at, or above 20%. We will not know for sure for some time,… Read More The Pending Unemployment Catastrophe
When I first started my blog around 2000, I soon began to focus on El Paso corruption. Corruption is the underlining issue/problem on the border. This is true for both sides of the border. Most focus on the Mexican side forgetting that for corruption to be successful there must be willing participants. Without a complicit… Read More The El Paso Crisis
While everyone is distracted by the pandemic crisis one of America’s archenemies defied Donald Trump and launched a satellite into orbit. Trump is not only chaotically trying to get a handle on the economic crisis facing Americans because of the Covid-19 disaster, but he is now dealing with unconfirmed reports that North Korea’s leader, Kim… Read More Iran Launches Satellite
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 182!
There are countless stories floating around social media today from individuals complaining about not having received their stimulus checks. In addition to the general confusion over who is or who is not qualified to receive the stimulus payments, there is also the question of lack of information from the IRS. Like everyone else, the IRS… Read More Technology Fiascos And Your Stimulus Check
I apologize that there have been no posts in the last two days. All is well, I have just been terribly busy, believe it or not considering the pandemic. I am not complaining because I have some exciting projects I am working on. One of them is continuing to write about border politics here. But… Read More A Quick Update On What Is Up
Typically, the bureaucracy fails to deliver. I knew this was going to happen because we live in a dog-eat-dog world. I learned a long time ago that when it comes to the government, it is never a good idea to pretend that things will work out. I have tried to bid on government work only… Read More No Government Money For Me
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 181!
Sometimes it is just easier to layout in video format. This is Donald Trump explaining how he is against mail-in ballots.
I have never understood the appeal of getting on a cruise ship. Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel, and as I pilot, I love to fly. I have lived in several countries over the years and many more cities. All have been interesting experiences and I would encourage everyone to get out of… Read More Why Would Anyone Get on a Cruise Ship?
The deal reached on Sunday between Russia, Saudi Arabia and other oil producing nations is not enough to solve the oil price problem. Cutting 9.7 million barrels a day is not enough to save the American shale oil companies. The pandemic has reduced oil consumption so much that the deal won’t be enough to stabilize… Read More Mexico: The Unexpected Oil Deal Winner
The unprecedented economic shutdown over the last month or so is, hopefully, about to end. The question is, what will it take to recover? Many are hoping and relying on the government to step up and offer help. But the economic chaos is going to take much more than government intervention to recover the economy.… Read More The Back 2 Work Plan
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 180!
The controversy about voting via mail that is intensifying as the pandemic continues to interfere with the upcoming elections. Donald Trump has made his position clear, mail-in ballots are “fraudulent” without providing proof. Republicans seem to generally oppose mail-in ballots while some Democrats are actively pushing for them. The central issue seems to be that… Read More Why Are Americans So Afraid Of Mail-In Ballots
The news media has been on a disruptive curve from the moment news consumers realized that the internet provides instant information. Many news outlets have either evolved, gone out of business or are trying to survive. Pleas for money has become the norm in the news media industry. The internet has disrupted many business models.… Read More News Media Cuts And Pleas For Money
Many Americans decry the exporting of manufacturing jobs to other countries – namely China and México. Their argument being that Americans should have the jobs to make the products people need. Never mind that American labor is much more expensive causing the products to cost more. These same complainers about the state of manufacturing jobs… Read More Riddle Me This About N95 Masks
Almost everyone is under stay-at-home orders and when it will end is still up in the air. Most businesses remain closed. Workers are without jobs and many wonder if there is a job waiting for them. So why is it time to get to work? Easy. Because it is time to prepare for when the… Read More The Time To Get To Work Is Now
Those readers that are surprised by the high unemployment filings reported by the government on last Thursday have clearly not been paying attention. The numbers are the result of workers not working. The obvious culprit is COVID-19. The labor market is collapsing. Make no mistake about that. Goldman Sachs has updated its model and now… Read More The Corona Unemployment Numbers
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 179!