Mon Blogcast: Movie tariffs; Starbase; Spain blackout; Kill SB5; Pope Trump

The weekend's controversy: Pope Donald

Now that Pope Francis has shuffled off this mortal coil and gone to the place he appeared to be looking toward in today's blog picture (assuming he didn't go to the other place) we're about to start the Papal Conclave later this week. That's the meeting of all the current cardinals under the age of 80 who will vote for Francis's successor.

President Trump has been trolling whoever will bite on the hook about how he think he'd be a great pope. I'm not Catholic but I find it rather amusing.

Now there's an AI-generated image blasting its way around the interwebs:

I think it's hilarious but I'm not Catholic nor am I particularly sensitive to "tasteless" jokes, as some are calling this. Some even call it blasphemous.

I posted these:

So what do you think?

email me at ross@koadenver.com and let me know if you think it's funny or tasteless or both or some other adjective...

I also note that popes choose their papal names; the Pope-name is not the real name. Often it's a reminder to reflect the character of the person the new pope will be named for. Pope Francis admired St Francis of Assisi, for example. So I was wondering, "What pope name would Donald Trump choose in order to emphasize who he most wanted to be like?" and the answer that came to me was, of course, Pope Donald.

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A hockey game for the ages

As bad and heartbreaking as the @Avalanche loss (@DallasStars win) was, the comeback by the @NHLJets (over the @StLouisBlues) was one of the greatest things I've seen in all my years of watching the @NHL, one of the greatest things I've seen in sports

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Just One Thing: The Waltz backstory (probably)

One never knows for sure, but this story makes sense: Mike Waltz was the most hawkish member of the Trump national security team and supports military action against Iran. Trump wants to try diplomacy and he has a lot of people around him from the Tucker Carlson wing of the party who prefer America's enemies to our friends and would be fine letting Iran continue developing a nuclear program. To be clear, I don't think Trump is with those guys; I think he just wants to try diplomacy first. After all, there probably hasn't been as much of an anti-war president during my lifetime as Trump and that's something I appreciate about him as long as he doesn't turn into Neville Chamberlain -- and he probably won't.

Given Waltz's perspective, it also makes sense that he was never particularly popular with folks like JD Vance and the evil Laura Loomer and it's perhaps less surprising that he's been removed from the National Security Advisor job than it is that he was given a less important but potentially fascinating new gig as the US Ambassador to the UN. I guess in that post he'll have almost no influence over creating US policy; he'll just be told how to vote. One wonders if he'll be told to vote in a way he can't stomach and will resign. As a good soldier, he'll probably just salute and say "Yes, sir!"

Waltz’s coordination with Netanyahu on Iran strike contributed to his firing – report

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One More Thing: Elon Musk's city

It's good to be the king:

Starbase: Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch site becomes an official Texas city | AP News

Meet the next leaders of Starbase, the SpaceX city in Texas | The Texas Tribune

Is a near-global population collapse already happening?

This is arguably the single most important planetary-scale issue...and, yes, far more important than "climate change".

Here are a LOT of links if you're interested:

A modest proposal from this writer. I don’t like any of it but Trump’s idea has proven ineffective in every country where it’s been tried. That said, I must admit that it’s probably a legit national interest to not get into a population doom loop like South Korea or Japan or China or even Russia (esp because of the war) seem to be in. Trump's $5k bonus won't bring more babies — here's what will

US:

Fertility rate: births per woman, 2023

Vital Statistics Rapid Release

US fertility rate hovers near record low as Trump administration pushes for a baby boom | CNN

Globally:

List of countries by total fertility rate - Wikipedia

Fertility Rate - Our World in Data

Fertility rate vs. GDP per capita, 2019

Income and fertility - Wikipedia

Sub-replacement fertility - Wikipedia

South Korean Firms Offer Employees $75,000 to Have Kids

South Korea has so few babies it is offering new parents $10,500 | Business and Economy News | Al Jazeera

Cash for babies: How Europe is tackling its falling birthrate | World Economic Forum

Nordic Statistics database

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Today's Guest

Robert Bryce is one of America's (and presumably the world's) true experts on electricity generation, power grids, and related public policy.

His great Substack is at https://robertbryce.substack.com/ and I highly recommend that you subscribe.

Today we're going to talk about last week's massive electrical power outage in Spain that caused chaos in Spain and Portugal.

Is it possible that Spain's headlong rush into "renewable" energy was the cause? And if so, what lessons will the rest of the world (other than German, of course, learn from it?

Yes, We Can Blame Solar For Spain’s Blackout. And If The Socialist Government Doesn’t Change Course, Expect More Blackouts

How warning signs hinted at Spain's unprecedented power outage | Reuters

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Other Stuff

Wait, she only found out the next day?!? So was the threat not serious or did they just not want bad PR before a huge event?

Brazil police thwart bomb attack on Lady Gaga concert

Brazilian police arrest 2 people over alleged plot targeting Lady Gaga concert in Rio | AP News

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Jared better come through with his veto if this gets through the legislature. This is the sort of stuff that is making Colorado worse than California and shows who completely owns the Democratic Party of Colorado: unions (followed closely by trial lawyers)

Colorado businesses, labor coalition, governor fail to reach deal on union bill, sources say | Governor | coloradopolitics.com

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It’s not only in Israel; Jewish American liberals turned against the Democratic Party in at least moderate numbers after the party couldn’t seem to be unified against Hamas.

These kibbutzniks used to believe in peace with Palestinians. Their views now echo Israel’s rightward shift

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Way to take one for the team: Canadian MP stepping down so Conservative leader Poilievre can regain seat in Parliament (Can you imagine any American politician doing this? Me neither, but then the stakes are bigger in a parliamentary system.)

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The judge is obviously right: Judge strikes down Trump order punishing law firm Perkins Coie

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In the weeds but important: The GOP’s Medicaid Moment of Truth - WSJ

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President Trump was on Meet the Press yesterday. Some of what he said, especially in the first third of the interview was incredible (mostly on economics). Here are my thoughts

Trumponomics on Meet the Press: The stuff that comes out of his mind (or at least his mouth) is literally unbelievable

And about 53 minutes in he refuses to rule out military force to turn Canada into the 51st state (though he downplays it) or Greenland (and doesn't downplay it.) Wow.

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The latest virulent and violent anti-Semite whom the mass media (NY Times, etc) want us to feel sympathy for: He Wanted Peace in the Middle East. ICE Wants to Deport Him. - The New York Times

Now read this: Potential Deportee Mohsen Madawi: I Like to Kill Jews [Allegation]

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I thought this was a joke but it isn't.:

Trump's 100% Tariff on Movies: 8 Key Questions for the Industry

Why Trump’s Foreign-Film Tariff Doesn’t Make Sense | TIME

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It's time to get rid of RFG: Colorado fight over reformulated gas and ozone gets complex

Diminishing Benefits of Federal Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) Compared to Conventional Gasoline (CG)

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An advertisement masquerading as a poll and news, but I still like the underlying question: Home is where the party is? Staying in may be the new going out

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Makes sense to me: Why don’t Colorado cities plant more fruit trees so urbanites can enjoy free, fresh fruit? 

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I wouldn’t say it’s very shocking: Warren Buffett shocks shareholders by announcing his intention to retire at the end of the year - POLITICO

The Ultimate Mic Drop: Warren Buffett Saves His Best for Last

Never is a long time: Why There Will Never Be Another Warren Buffett - WSJ

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Today's Videos

Believe it or not, there are a few Orthodox Jewish rappers, though I'm not sure you'd call this "rap"

It's banana time, and no you can't have one