In Case you missed it!

April 23,2026

“Ninja borrowers are those with no income, no job and no assets.” Author unknown.

The “Charlotte Fishwrap” published 32 pages, tiny font, three columns per page of the names of delinquent taxpayers. That is roughly 13,500 who owe taxes to Mecklenburg County and to the city of Charlotte. What is the collection process? Every year that list is published.

Immigrant groups are demanding changes to the arrest procedures. They feel certain places should be safe zones with no arrests allowed. What? If I committed a state or federal crime I suspect the police would arrest while in the shower or in bed. What difference does it make of the location while serving an arrest warrant? Let’s not go down that path.

The US. Dept. of Education had 4,200 people beginning this year. Trump is moving to dismantle that agency. What exactly do they do? How does that dept. know the teaching needs of states like NC or WV.? Education is a local matter. Interestingly, the national teachers’ unions are opposed to the reduction. And-that dept. has been administering the student loan program with approximately 1/3 borrowers being delinquent.

Luis Alberto Miranda-Vilchis has been charged with a fatal hit and run in Charlotte. According to court records, he hit a 58-year-old man while the man was crossing the street. Miranda-Vilchis was deported from Texas 4 years ago and re-entered the US illegally.

NC teachers are planning a protest march on May 1st. No classes for students that day. Schools will be forced to close. Public employees are not allowed to strike so it will be interesting to see what happens. Parents will have to find babysitters. Teachers are basically walking off their jobs and traveling to Raleigh. No learning that day. Teachers actually are in school about 35 weeks a year. They receive 11 paid holidays, 19 workdays, 10 days of annual leave and have a summer break of 9.5 weeks. With a very “rich” benefit package, Teachers in NC average $86,000 in total compensation. If they worked 49 weeks a year their comp. would be $106,000.

Recently, I received a bill from BC/BS of North Carolina. That policy is a supplement to my Medicare and costs $100/month. Interestingly, that EOB and bill is available in the following languages-English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, French, Hmong (southeast Asia), Russian, Tagalog (Philippines), Gujarati (Indo-Aryan), Mon-Khmer (Cambodia), German, Hindi, Laotian, and Japanese. I hope the people speaking these languages are paying for the coverage.

Lastly, the US is now providing aid to many African countries, using a new domestic co-investment strategy. Blood products, vaccines, and medicines are being delivered by parachutes via drones to 15,000 clinics in countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda. The new aid packages require African countries to co-fund the costs, provide healthcare data to track progress and allow US access to some resources in the various countries. Aid countries will be required to increase funding for healthcare. The goal is to reduce the cases of polio, TB, HIV, and Malaria. This new approach will not provide funding for DEI.

The 5 Evils of Society

April 20, 2026

“If you are not sure where you are or where you belong, walk in like you own the place.” Self

In 1942 the British economist, William Beveridge, was commissioned to study and write a report about society’s most impacting social issues. Beveridge was a social welfare advocate and a liberal. His report summarized what he considered to be the greatest needs for government to address regarding the welfare system in England.

His findings were called “The 5 Evils.” They included “Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness.” He believed government should address these “evils.” Perhaps he was right, perhaps not. France has the largest ($$$) welfare system in the world, yet France is not an economically strong country with $53K per capita income. The US. is $94K.

I have developed my own “5 Evils” for the US. using the framework from Beveridge.

  1. Poverty-Blacks have a lower household income than Asians and Whites. That is because a majority of Black households have a single wage earner, the mother, and she often works part-time. When the state minimum wage is raised, employers reduce the workforce. Fraud in the welfare system is being discovered everywhere. Welfare $$$”s are being stolen. Money is being misspent. Tattoos are expensive. A sleeve cost about $1800. Long eye lashes are also expensive costing about $150 per month. Same with fake nails. Bad choices. Drug usage strongly impacts poverty. Cause and effect!
  2. Disease-new diseases are on the rise in the US, including yellow fever, chickenpox, measles, polio, TB, E. Coli, and in some cases, HIV. Unvaccinated immigrants have entered this country, and their children are in our schools. Our ERs are overwhelmed. Our local healthcare system is reporting 33% non-payers.
  3. Ignorance-the US has too many NEET’s. They are non-educated, non-employed, and non-trained people. Currently, the US has 9-10 million young people not looking for employment. Many are living in their parent’s basements. The parents can cover their medical insurance until age 26. Big mistake. Baltimore has 11 high schools without one student passing the math competency exam. That is outrageous. Where is the Governor of Maryland? Students in college are allowed to borrow $100,000’s for college. At least 1/3 are delinquent in paying it back. Almost 1/3 of college students do not work in the summer, and many take a “gap year” after graduating. Many foreign students with debt are fleeing the country. And-colleges are still offering nonsense degrees like Women Studies, Equity, Ancient Greek, Advertising, French Literature, and even High School Football Coaching, Online classes encourage laziness and cheating. Trade schools should be booming and supported.
  4. Idleness-young people like working from home 5-6 hours a day. Smoking weed makes you lazy, same with video gaming (job hunting activity declines by 35% when the new “Call of Duty” is released). Door Dash is so easy and costly, credit card debt is at record levels. Young people use online grocery shopping and home delivery, Uber, valet parking, and their favorite term is “Add to Cart.” Young people do not even dress. I see many in pajamas and slippers. E-Bikes do not require pedaling,
  5. Squalor-living in unclean places. Directly related to income, idleness and laziness. Rent control accelerates poor conditions, high crime areas are often in the poorest neighborhoods so lockup the criminals and cleanup the streets.

Of course, this is an oversimplification, but these points are valid.

PS-The national teachers unions could play a significant role impacting the above. Instead, their focus and money is directed to politics and getting Democrats elected. The NEA donated $23 million to Democrats last year. Not one $$ to a Republican candidate. And-they spent $3 million in lobbying efforts.

Newsome and AOC on Foreign Policy

February 15, 2026

” Foreign policy is like hitting a baseball; if you fail 70% of the time you go to the Hall of fame.” Robert Kagan, American Historian, Author, Columnist and Foreign Policy Analyst.

Unfortunately, Gov. Newsome and the Congresswoman traveled to Germany last week to learn about foreign policy. They went to the Munich Security Conference. The MSC is held annually with over 70 western countries and allies attending to discuss global security issues. Newsome and AOC do not have any experience regarding foreign policy, and neither were briefed by the US State Department about currents affairs. They lacked experience and intel, and an education regarding geography.

Their trip was a political stunt, as both have aspirations toward winning the White House in 2028. AOC is a self-declared socialist and quite ignorant. She once said the world will end in 9 years. That was 8 years ago. Newsome is running the State of California. Sadly, that state has the majority of US homelessness, the highest taxes, a budget deficit of $20 billion and is under investigation for welfare fraud. Additionally, California received one half of all disaster relief $$$’s from the US Government last year totaling $63 billion. He just can’t stop forest fires.

AOC made speeches criticizing the US. She didn’t know where Venezuela is located. She criticized President Trump for his actions against Maduro. And worse-when asked about US sending military troops to Taiwan, she fumbled and bumbled her answer. She is just plain stupid. And she embarrassed the US. A couple of years ago AOC had some media training that suggested she wear glasses to make herself look more intelligent and move her head and hands a certain way to look pensive. Pitiful!

It is never acceptable for US Government officials to travel to other countries and criticize the US and/or the sitting President. Newsome and AOC are hacks! Both embarrassed the Unites States.

Special Note to my Readers-for Black History Month read works from Maya Angelou. She was an incredible Black Woman. A poet, author and civil rights activist. Her early novel “I know why the Caged Bird Sings” was a remarkable story about her early years. My favorite quote from her is “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”

Images provided by Google

Illegal Alien Kills 15-year-old girl!

February 6,2026

“I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigration.” Hillary Clinton, Former US Senator and US Secretary of State.

I cannot read accounts of the story below without getting furious. This posting is my first article about criminal illegal aliens and their victims. The young 15-year-old girl shown below is Amber Paris. She was killed by Julio Cesar Xocop-Vincente, shown below. He is from Guatemala and in the US illegally.

These stories must be told!

According to the arrest records, Xocop-Vincente was speeding and ran through a stop sign in a residential neighborhood and struck Paris while she was riding her bicycle. After striking Paris, this criminal fled the scene. Paris laid on the ground with two broken legs, a severed artery and severe internal injuries. She died in the hospital two weeks later. The accident occurred on November 24 last year.

Xocop-Vincente was charged with felony hit-and-run, reckless driving, and operating a motor vehicle without a license. This killer was allowed to post a $10,000 bond and was released. What is hell is wrong with our local justice system???

On January 12th, ICE started removal proceedings. According to ICE records, this killer had previously been charged with speeding, driving while impaired, and driving without a license. Why was he not in jail? Police records also show a domestic violence case against Xocop-Vincente. This killer should have been in jail!

The death of Amber Paris is tragic and was 100% preventable. Our local government failed to protect this 15-year-old girl. Furiously maddening.

Ecuador-Violent Gangs and Murders

February 3, 2026

“Journalists describe purveyors of self-help books as gurus because they can’t spell charlatans.” Peter Drucker, Business Consultant and Author.

Ecuador is about the size of Arizona. This Latin American country has 18 million people. The capital is Quito, with a population of 3 million people. Daniel Noboa is the President. The main industry in Ecuador is oil production and bananas. And arguably illegal drugs.

Ecuador is located along the Pacific Ocean between Peru and Columbia. The largest producers of cocaine in the world are in Peru and Columbia. The port city of Guayaquil (see map) is a major hub for drug trafficking and of course, violent crime.

Ecuador is the most dangerous major country in the world. The murder rate is 45.7 per 100,000 people. The United States is 5.7. Last year there were 9,216 murders in Ecuador which was up by 30% over the previous year. Gang violence is the main reason for the high murder rate.

Yet for 4 straight years, the Biden Administration allowed men from Ecuador to enter our country unvetted.

Haiti is also very dangerous with a murder rate of 41.1 per 100,000 people. Guatemala is also ranked high with a murder rate of 21.3 murders per 100,000 people. And Honduras recorded a murder rate of 31.4. These are all very dangerous countries. Same with Mexico.

The most dangerous government related event since 9/11 was the unvetted mass migration across our southern border mostly from these dangerous countries. Trump is right. We must find the criminals!

Ecuador map provided by Google Images

SC College Football Coach’s Salaries

January 30, 2026

What sets disciplined people apart? -The capacity to get past distractions. Focus on the task at hand.” NFL Coach Bill Parcells

It is a sad fact that the highest paid public employees in most US states are college coaches. See chart below. Either men’s football or basketball coaches. Not the president of a university, or dean of the law/med school. Or the Governor or Attorney General.

At the University of South Carolina, the head football coach is paid $8.2 million a year. The average salary of tenured professors at USC is $175,000.

The college football season is 16 weeks long including a month of conditioning. Of course, the coach has many other duties in the off season but perhaps college coaching is not a full time 50weeks/year job.

The salaries of all the coaches are outrageous. USC has 11 football coaches. The assistant coaches will make $10 million combined. Here is the list of those coaches and salaries:

–Defensive Coordinator Clayton White-$2 million

-Offensive Coordinator Kendal Briles-$2 million

–Co-Defensive Coordinator and DB Coach Torrian Gray- $1 million

–Special Teams Coordinator Joe Decamillis- $850,000

–Running Backs Coach Stan Drayton-$775,000

-Run Game Coordinator/Tigh Ends Coach Shawn Elliott-$775,000

– Offensive Line Coach Randy Clements-$725,000

–DB and Outside LB Coach Deion Barnes-$675,000

–Passing Game Coordinator and WR Coach Mike Furrey-$650,000

-Defensive Line Coach Travian Robertson-$550,000

It is noteworthy that Barnes and Robertson had very poor NFL careers, drafted in the late rounds, assigned to practice squads, waived after one year from 2-3 teams. Wonder how these 2 can coach football?

The lowest paid coach, Robertson, makes 2X the pay of the current Governor of South Carolina!!!! Madness!

The Head Coach, Beamer is making $8 million this year. When hired in 2021 his salary was $2,75 million. So, his salary has gone up 200% in 5 years. Wow! That’s amazing considering the USC football team went 4-8 in 2025.

Image provided by Google

In Case You Missed It!

January 27, 2026

“Socialism has no moral justification whatsoever; poor people are not morally superior to rich people, nor are they owed anything by rich people simply because of their lack of success.” Ben Shapiro-lawyer, author, journalist.

–California has allowed unvetted, illegal migrant truck drivers to drive 18 wheelers. Last year an unvetted truck driver from California attempted a U turn on an 4-lane road in Florida. See image below. The driver was in this country illegally and could not read English. Three people were killed instantly.

–Earlier this month about 700 NC public school teachers did not show up to teach. They were on the streets protesting what they call “low pay.” So, 19,600 public school students did not have their teacher that day. Shame on these teachers. The current average pay for teachers in NC is $58,000 plus 38% for great benefits or a total comp. of $80,100 and they only work 175 days (35 weeks) a year. If these people worked 48 weeks, then their annual pay plus benefits would be $109,800. Wow!

–South Carolina and North Carolina are experiencing record number of measles cases. Measles is a highly contagious sickness with symptoms of high fever sometimes over 104F, cough and congestion. Measles has been controlled for years with vaccinations for children. The problem is undocumented and unvaccinated people entering the country. The worse measles outbreak is in SW Texas. Can You imagine sending your 1st grader to school to be in a class with undocumented/unvaccinated kids? This is a serious matter!

–For the last 45 years the US Federal and state governments have spent an average of $67 billion annually on disaster damages. Of course these are mostly hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires. last year the total disaster damages were $115 billion with a whopping $68 billion in damages in LA due to wildfires. Federal investigators found gross negligence in LA regarding preparedness, the deployment of firefighters and equipment, empty water hydrants and dry main water reservoirs. Sadly, LA had 80+ large pieces of firefighting equipment in the repair shop when the wildfires started. Sixteen thousand buildings were destroyed and 33+ people died. The mayor of LA, Karen Bass, was in Ghana. I think the US government should provide disaster relief, but not to areas year after year that do not properly prepare.

–In 2025 the US experienced 111 fatalities of law enforcement personnel while on the job. This is the lowest number of deaths reported since 1943. Experts are crediting better training, equipment, the adoption of best practices and the emphasis on physical and mental health as the main reason for lower deaths. Of the 111 deaths, 102 were men and 9 were women. Data on injuries is not available. Law enforcement is a dangerous profession.

Images provided by Google

Stupid People

January 5, 2026

If it is government’s role is to make all people equal, then the government will have to treat people unequally. Self

Do not waste your time dealing with stupid people. Don’t hire them, play with them, argue with them, help them or try to convince them. They are stupid and unchangeable. You can always spot a stupid person because they lack many important mental characteristics. Here are just a few:

-they are close minded, not open to new ideas, even impatient

-very poor listening skills

-they are impulsive

-they have no intellectual curiosity

-stupid people often have trouble regulating their emotions. They get angry.

-they never learn from mistakes

-they have zero problem solving skills

-they hate change

-stupid people can’t understand abstract concepts or different perspectives

-and lastly, stupid people are often overconfident. Ugh!

If you run across a person that displays 2-3 of the above traits, just walk away and find better people!

In case you missed it!

December 24, 2025

“It took centuries of intellectual, philosophical development to achieve political freedom…The individual was not left at the mercy of his neighbors or his leaders: the Constitutional system of checks and balances was scientifically devised to protect him from both.” Ayn Rand, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 1986. Russian born author and playwright.

In the very near future, companies will begin using facial recognition to hire employees. AI software is being developed to spot desired job characteristics among potential candidates. Recent reports indicate AI can discern conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism and other factors helping employers to select the best fit for their teams. Sounds great to me. I would screen for laziness and arrogance.

After months of negotiations the EU and America have reach an agreement on tariffs. The agreement will eliminate EU tariffs on many US products and require the EU to purchase $750 billion in US energy products. And-the agreement includes $600 billion of investment from the EU into the US. Wow!!!

North Carolina State University is playing its season opener football game in Brazil. The game will be on August 29th, 2026, against UVa. The game will be played in Rio de Janeiro. Can you imagine the cost involved in taking the entire team and Staff to Brazil for 6-7 days? The trip will take about 20 hours and cost $1,500/person for airfare. Whose idea was this? Why? What about the student body and fans. They will miss this game. And think about the loss of revenue in Raleigh/Charlottesville. And lastly, what about security. This is a very bad idea for a taxpayer supported school.

“Affordable housing” is always in the news. Not enough housing for all the new residents. And units cost more than can be afforded by low-income households. The published data is very clear. Of course, there are several solutions offered by many, but one solution is always missing-reduce immigration into the area. The data show mass immigration has contributed about 10-15% to the housing problem. Same with schools being crowded, and teacher shortages.

See article below. A very newsworthy article in the local paper. Women have formed a lowrider club, whatever the hell that is! Another major gain for women’s rights. I guess men are excluded. I really appreciate the local “fishwrap” keeping me informed about all the important issues. Madness!

Roy Cooper, a Democrat, was governor of NC for 8 years, 2017-2025. Prior to that, he served as Attorney General for 8 years. During Cooper’s 8 years as governor, he vetoed 129 bills passed by the State Legislature. Cooper was an obstructionist. Worse, during his time as governor, 2021 to 2024, the State Dept. of Health and Human Services was late in issuing $83 million in SNAP benefits to low-income families. This work is simple, processing SNAP applications and issuing federal and state payments. In several NC counties, as many as 20-25% of the food aid was late. The DHHS was cited several times and agreed to take corrective action but was delinquent in doing so! Cooper should have handled this mess.

Lessons I learned from my Father!

December 17, 2025

“Boldness of enterprise is the foremost cause of its rapid progress, its strength and its greatness.” Alexis de Tocqueville- in reference to American innovation and the American Spirit.

Both my parents died on New Year’s Eve. My Dad died in 1998. My Mother died in 2007. The Christmas Holidays have never been a happy time for me.

My Dad and I were very close. From the time I was 6 years old I was by my father’s side doing everything. My Dad was an excellent woodworker, DIY’er, gardener, golfer, bowler, auto mechanic, and natural born leader. He was a bomber pilot in WWll, flew 38 missions. My Dad never spoke about his time in the 8th Air Force.

My Dad worked rotating shifts (more money) at a chemical plant in the Shenandoah Valley, Va. For most of that time he was a supervisor. My parents raised 6 children.

I think about my dad often and reflect on the lessons I learned from him. Here are just a few:

  1. You don’t have to curse to be a man. It is ok to have a drink but do so in moderation.
  2. Take care of what you own. Cars, house, yard, shrubs, clothes, tools, and yourself.
  3. Look your best. Wear decent clothes, shine your shoes, shave, eat proper food and exercise.
  4. When you are unsure, ask for advice. It is ok!
  5. Treat all people with respect and with fairness. Do not judge people harshly. My dad spoke the same way to his crew as he did to his boss. And-do not miss work. Be on time.
  6. Take your wife out on a date at least once a month. My parents liked to dance!
  7. Read the newspaper, books and watch the news. Try hard to be informed.
  8. Thank people that have helped you. Visit and care for your parents and sibling.
  9. Speak calmly, don’t exaggerate, and never shout to make your point.
  10. Save your money.

My dad smoked for 50+ years and died from lung disease. He was 81.