Who to believe less? A government official talking money or a big media talking head?
From today's "Face The Nation" on CBS with Margaret Brennan:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: "Thus far there have been no price increases - everything has been alarmist. The inflation numbers are actually dropping.We saw the first drop of inflation in four years. The inflation numbers last week, they were very pro-consumer."
"Margaret, when we were here in March, you said there was going to be big inflation. There hasn't been any inflation. Actually, the inflation numbers were the best in four years. So why don't we stop trying to say 'this could happen,' wait and see what does happen."
Emphasis mine.
I remember seeing this movie back in the 1970s.
Let's see now ... If there have been no price increases, how are inflation numbers dropping? Or is he claiming deflation?
Or maybe he's right. Prices haven't being going up, the value of your dollar is going down. I recall one time long ago when a CEO of McDonald's said that they still sold a 15¢ hamburger but adjusted for inflation.
There hasn't been any inflation? This must be from someone that doesn't do his own shopping or keep his own accounts.
Are you aware the Fed is dumping massive amounts of funny money into the system (ie, stock market) in order to keep the stock market "stable"? Your 401K and/or other "money" assets are not going up in value; they're actually decreasing faster than most realize.
The word for the day ... and many days to come ... is "ohshit".
But in other latest news: we won't be worried about such things for very long.
This post inspired by this statement over at Eaton Rapids Joe:
"I would rather be driving a $5000 vehicle riding on $250 tires than driving a $150k vehicle on $100 tires. But that is just me."
Not just him ...
1976 F250 "hi-boy" 300ci straight 6 true 4x4 w granny gear far better for rough country than a modern 4x4
First item "fixed". Just like hiking/work boots, the foundation is important. Actually, the 4 tires that replaced these came to just shy of $1200. And it was a $4000 vehicle (was ...)
Procedure for passing through a gate:
Put truck in granny gear Get out of truck and go open gate (often barbed wire with wooden stick spacer and two wire loops) Wait for truck to pass by. Wait some more ... Close gate Walk back to truck, get in, shift gears Drive on
One day, you'll do something for the last time - only you won't realize it's the last time.
The last time your father picks you up. The last time you hug your mother. The last time you kiss your high school sweetheart.
The last time you go on a night ride with your best friend. The last time you see your "friends for life".
You won't know it's the last time. There's nothing special about the moment - an ordinary unspecial moment of life. Just like any other day; just like so many other moments.
Until it isn't.
The last meal you eat at your favorite restaurant before it closes.
That time came for me today - but I knew it was coming. Nothing special - but perhaps such an insignificant, unimportant event shouldn't have meaning. Would it be better if I hadn't known ahead of time?
The time you say "See you later" ... and later never comes.
Those everyday ordinary moments. The times you put off 'til tomorrow ... or next week. The friends you meant to see; the places you wanted to visit.
from "Virtual Mirage" (www dot virtualmirage dot org/67343-2/) "Literary Interlude" May 28, 2025
"Ashes and Orbits" By A. Cooley
I am old now, my purpose is to remember our sins. I teach history from the twilight side of Aletheia Station, where the Earth always hangs dim beyond the glass, not quite night, not quite gone. The students come and go in rotating cohorts—agronomists from the Orchard Ribbons, welders from the Kestrel yards, the occasional monastic from the Numa Belt. Most of them don’t ask about Earth unless the exam requires it.
They’ve never seen rain that wasn’t calibrated, purified, clean.
They’ve never stood in soil that didn’t come from a recycler.
They call Earth “the cradle,” as if it was something tender, forgotten, buried in the arms of time.
French fur traders - "Mountain Men" - trapping along the river were caught in a blizzard in the 1820s and buried their gunpowder along the banks ("Cache La Poudre" - "Hide the Powder")
It flows from the upper reaches of Rocky Mountain National Park, down through LaPorte, Fort Collins, and flows into the South Platte near Greeley. The river flooded in 1864, destroying a military camp which then moved down river and created the fort of Fort Collins. Although now controlled somewhat, the banks - and homes built on them - are still subject to flooding. The Overland Stage line once followed along its northern bank as a major highway of the era.
This view is looking upriver from the LaPorte region.
