THE DON JONES INDEX… |
GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED |
12/24/19… 16,571.32 12/24/19… 16,574.71 6/27/13…
15,000.00 |
|
(THE DOW
JONES INDEX:
1/1/20…28,538.44; 12/24/19…28,455.09; 6/27/13…
15,000.00) |
LESSON for
January 1, 2020 – SING IN the NEW!
It’s a New Year, in fact, a New Decade… unless you
are one of those sticklers for accuracy that accounts the new decades beginning
the first of January on years ending with “1”… and Don Jones has new
opportunities to embrace and new perils to face. Just this week, the Australian wildfires
turned into conflagrations, leaving all the climate change denialists
red in the face with rage. Proving that
deeds have consequences, our abject flight from the Syrian conflict and
betrayal of the Kurds came home to roost, sort of, when an embolden Iran sent
its militias in Iraq to invade and torch the American embassy… repeating the
Benghazi, Libya fiasco all over.
Domestically, the impeachment showdown became a
slowdown as Speaker Pelosi hid the Articles from Senate Chair McConnell in an
attempt to force him to actually hold a trial instead of a show trial after he
had proclaimed that he would be co-ordinating the
proceedings with President Trump. The
solicitation… or subpoena… of witnesses is a majority, not two-thirds privilege
and one republican, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski has already gone on record
expressing “concern” about the railroad job.
(Aside: we ask…can a suspect be “railroaded” into acquittal or
exoneration, or need another term be used?)
And then, there are the elections.
The field of candidates is essentially down to four, maybe four and a
half… three of whom went through the motions in the December debate. The Iowa and New Hampshire primaries are fast
approaching, but after that will come South Carolina and the political demise
of Mister… his term as Mayor ended today… Pete, whose inability to hold even
one or two percent of the black, Democratic vote is a candidacy-buster. We will also thank Mister Yang for his service
and send him back to private life. Of
the two billionaires, lefty Tom Steyer is catching no
fire despite being included in the debates, while righty Michael Bloomberg will
be pouring millions if not billions into quacking commercials that should be
enough to delude a fair portion of the Democratic asses into supporting
him. So it shapes up
as Bloomberg and Joe Biden… who committed perhaps his biggest gaffe under the
radar and over the holidays by announcing that he would “consider” a Republican
running mate (Bloomberg was a Democrat, then a Republican, then an Independent
before switching back to Democrat again post-Trump)… on the right versus
Elizabeth Warren and her fuzzy math and declared, not purported, Socialist
Bernie Sanders on the left in a no-holds-barred dogfight to the finish, after
which there looms a walkout and third party or independent candidacy which will
hand Mister Trump an easy victory, probably win back the House again and
inspiring four more years of stress and sit-ups for the Notorious RBG.
Smiling coyly from the shadows is Minnesota’s Amy
Klobuchar, the shy girl hoping to be noticed if the
high school quarter breaks off from the cheerleader. She’s touting her
poll standings, which have risen from two percent to three percent to… at the
last Fox News survey… five percent. The
problem is that it’s Fox News… she’s the compromise neither faction wants to make,
lacking Biden’s mojo and Bloomberg’s money.
Did we mention that, in the Chinese New Year (beginning on the 25th) it’ll be the Year of the Rat?
Our New Years’ 2019 chart was
revised, as follows…
Note: We have
(finally) conformed the Index by recalculating the point value of Miscellaneous
upwards (although not to the extent prior to 2016) and by divesting it of
cultural developments, which will be given their own category with a 300 point
start. Consequently, the entire Index
will increase (in this instance, by 597.95 points). For the month of January, both the
traditional and revised DJI values will be included… the increase is technical
and should not be assumed to be beneficial to Mr. Jones’ status (except in
relation to years prior to 2016.
Consider the 1/1/19 DJI a starting point, from which his fortunes will
appreciate or decline as events occur.)
This
did not solve the problem, which many have pointed out, that incremental gains
in categories where the Don is already high and rising (unemployment, the Dow)
have less effect than those in which it has significantly fallen from its
origins in 2013 (trade, debt, weather).
We attempt to mitigate wide swings within the subjective categories by
affording higher marks to, for example, children saved from a tornado or trainwreck, so that the value will not fall
and fall and inevitably reach zero.
So we are going to reset again, taking the base
valuations and including the changes over time… dividing the miscellaneous into
cultural and general developments,
JULY – July 2 – 26,786.68; 16.482.76 (Revised); July 9 – 26,783.45; 16.457.28, July 16 – 27,335.63;
16,444.01; July 23 – 27,349.19;
16,449.80; July 30 – 27,198.02
16,442.84
July 2, 2019 – RENT (still) too HIGH (TWO)! – The first two Democratic debates are
done and won (or lost)… Joe Biden’s been tossed on the scrap heap like an old X-box and the new sexy contenders are Julian
Castro and Kamala Harris. Politicians
may dither and wither, but even a few traditional capitalists have begun to
reassess their solidarity with the rentiers because RENTS TOO HIGH!
“What did the candidates at the divided Democratic Debateapalooza have to say about that?
Nothing!”
Kamala Harris does advocate taxing the middle class to pay
the rich to house the poor. Rex Nutting of Marketwatch snickers at
the prospect of rent stamps: “All Harris’s plan would do is put even more money
into the hands of those “greedy” landlords, while proving yet again that good
intentions often lead to predictable, bad consequences… landlords would raise
the rents once they realized that their tenants could afford to spend more on
housing without reducing their other expenses.”
We looked backwards to Quesnay, the founder and principle
promoter of physiocracy, a sort of paleo-libertarianism which equated landlords with royalty. Somewhat better comparisons were drawn by
Karl odbertus (c. 1837) and Henry George (c. 1900),
as well as assorted 19th century socialists (but not Marx and Engels) and
anarchists. In the twentieth century,
progressives (as opposed to liberals) flirted with rent controls, public
housing and verticalization… catfish favor new cities
(Asia and the MidEast are leading the way, although
with complications… the nearest to a success story is the revitalization of
Glasgow, Scotland.)
“Franklin Graham (Billy’s Boy) has risen up to slough off
the burden of his namby-pamby father and has initiated a National Day of Prayer
for Donald Trump and against His enemies.”
Then, the President was off to a meet and greet with Kim on NoKo turf. Insulin
prices double and experts advise eating maggots, but astronomers discover a
solid gold asteroid.
July 9, 2019 – HELL and STAYerWELL! – The first Democratic debates take place in Miami and,
consequently, Eric Swalwell drops out. Joining the circus is billionaire Tom Steyer who “has apparently decided to throw his hat (and
most importantly, his wallet) into the charmed circle.” Looking things over: Howard (Starbucks)
Schultz, Michael Bloomberg and, of course, Oprah. Meanwhile, left-wing billionaire George Soros
and his conservative mirror image Charles (“Dark Money”) Koch form an anti-war
think tank… Koch has been blasted as a traitor to the
alt-right for supporting more immigration (because it will lower wages).
Media response is
predictable. “Rolling Stone’s lefty
scribes hailed the “talented trio of Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Bernie
Sanders challenging a humbled Joe Biden for the mantle of frontrunner.”
Wages were up, but
so was unemployment. Women’s soccer
covets some of that after winning the FIFA cup… they’re
paid less than 7% of what the men get. And speaking of billionaires in politics, RIP to Ross
Perot.
July 16, 2019 – X-CLUDED!– We noted the foolishness of the Democratic
National Committee, whieh will broadcast the next
debates only on pay cable, meaning the poor… the pur-poor-ted
donkey base… will be excluded from learning what these politicians have in mind
for them. Back in the Obama years,
conservatives gnashed their teeth…“If you can afford beer, cigarettes, new
tattoos, drugs and cable TV, then you don’t need food stamps or welfare,” was a
typical concurrence. Neglected and
disrespected people don’t vote… “Donald Trump’s
victories in Pennsylvania (by 44,000), Michigan (by 10,000), Wisconsin (by
23,000), Ohio and Florida may have been affected by voter disenchantment… in
all of these states, his margin was beneath the vote totals of third, four,
fifth and tenth party aspirants.”
Unemployment continued rising, but gas prices fell and the Dow hit a
record high. Why? Perhaps because Amazon is “hiring” 200,000
robots. Moonshot nostalgia finds a Nike moonshoe gets $160,000 at auction.
July 23, 2019 – GIRL POWER! – “At last the second quarter
financials are in and Democratic Don Joneses are doing it his way… Republicans
can roll over, go back to sleep and dream of Robert E. Lee…” because the second
quarter financials arrived at the Federal Elections Commission and the DJI
issued its first power grid of the 2020 season.
And we had upsets…
two!
Based on polls, debate performance, media reviews and the
all-important cash on hand, California Senator Kamala Harris was adjudged the front runner with Elizabeth Warren second and presumed
leader Joe Biden third. Harris vaulted
into the top spot by eviscerating Biden, who lived up to Donald Trump’s “Sleepy
Joe” moniker. The obscure Mayor Pete Buttigieg raised the most money… those wine caves!... to finish a surprising fifth, behind Bernie Sanders.
The worst rankings belonged to newcomers Tom Steyer
(who would improve) and Joe Sestak (who would not, but remains fighting on).
Over the pond, Boris Johnson was elected
Prime Minister, meaning more Brexit bulldada over the coming months, while Americans celebrated
spacey things with the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk
and “Avengers Endgame” passing “Avatar” at the box office while Hollywood touts
“Cats” as the next big thing.
July 30, 2019 – THE DEATH of COMEDY! – “In 1956, a young and ambitious publisher by
the name of Hugh Hefner decided to bankroll a visionary slick magazine of
satire, culture and current events.
Its title? Originally
simply “X”, that was changed to…
Two little noted
(but to be long remembered) deaths this week were those of Mad Magazine… bible
of millions of 20th century Bart Simpsons… and one of its wretched,
underpaid writers, Paul Krassner (who eventually quit
to form his own seminal publication “The Realist”).
Heffner’s “Trump”
lasted two issues. Mad lasted 67 years, Krassner 87.
Comedy, print or
verbal, is out of fashion these days.
“You can blame the shuttering of Mad on changing demographics,” scoffed
Fox News’ Michael Levin, “the demise of the magazine industry and other
factors. But a major reason the magazine is
disappearing is simple: the left can’t take a joke.
“Never have I met
a more humorless group of people than oh-so politically correct progressives.
Nothing is funny to them, because everything is potentially offensive to
someone. Heaven forbid that a delicate little snowflake should be triggered by a microaggression and be traumatized for a
minute or two.
“I’m not talking
about inappropriate humor or ethnic jokes. I’m just
talking about life in general. As the expression goes, if you don’t recognize
that the joke’s on you, you’re missing the whole point of human existence.”
What, me worry?
Well, we did. Religious fanatics, lone wolves and teenage
Nazis rampaged… 12 shot at Brooklyn block party, 20 more at Gilroy (Ca) garlic
festival and a Jayme Kloss kidnap copycat killed 4 in Wisconsin. At least there were plenty of “wallet” jokes
after 100 million Capital One users were hacked.
Note: Our
erroneous DJIndex was corrected
AUGUST – Aug. 6 – 26,029.52; 16,419.49; Aug. 13 –26,279.91; 16,422.15 Aug. 20 – 26,109.82; 16,412.40; Aug. 27 – 25,777.90; 16,403.23
August 6, 2019 – HAS the DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE
NOT EVEN ANNOUNCED YET? – “The
bells have tolled, the tombstones rolled, the jokes all told and all the
Democratic candidates have flown away to Vegas to make friends and influence
people. There were no
dramatic developments during the second round of debates in Detroit last week
(except in the proclamations of pundits); top-tier candidates consolidated
their advantages, the advantage-seekers did the best they could and proclaimed
it sufficient unto the day… the left-behinds, still left-behind, were left to
checking their checkbook balances, their airline tickets back home and their
prospects for surviving… (pundits and pollsits) now see
the race as a four (or maybe five) horse contest. Despite being hit by anything and everything
from cream pies to buckshot to RPGs, former Vice President Joe Biden retains a
comfortable lead; (b)unched tightly behind Uncle Joe
are his angriest pursuers… the “three Furies of Wokeness”
(Bernie, Warren and Harris).
“The debates garnered less media attention than
might have been expected for the reason that an alleged “white supremacist” who
expressed hatred for Mexicans gunned down dozens, killing 22, in El Paso on
Saturday morning, followed by just an ordinary teenaged loser… allegedly bitter
over being rejected by girls… killing nine more in Dayton, Ohio.” Buried further under the debates and the
massacres - was the imposition of Trump’s ten percent tariff on Chinese wares
and the resultant stock market meltdown.
(Buried even deeper was the Federal Reserve’s 0.25 interest rate cut…
small, but the first since December, 2008.) And, oh yes, Trump
tears up the U.S./Russia nuke treaty.
Bombs away!
Mad bat invades a flight to
Newark… then gets really
mad when it finds out its destination.
August 13, 2019 - MANIFESTO DESTINIES! – “Some
people just can’t help themselves.
“Their lives are shit, nobody
will give them a job except maybe a dollar store or a fishy ride-share service,
they survive in squalor or in their parents’ basements where their cries for
social justice go unheard, or ridiculed; girls don’t want anything to do with
them… most of the friends of the people are dudes… their clothes are worn and
unwashed, they have few or no possessions (except, perhaps, for a gun, a
wheezing old computer and an account on Facebook or, if they’ve been thrown
off, 8Chan) and, although some are gamers, they don’t follow the local ballclubs or The Bachelorette or any of those other
American distractions.”
So
they go for the glory. They become
active shooters, mad bombers, even purposely murderous
drivers. And
they write manifestoes.
Patrick Crusius,
a community college student and supermarket bagger who kept pet snakes and guns
and massacred twenty two people at an El Paso WalMart
channeled Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, population reductionist Garrett Harden and
New Zealand butcher Brenton Tarrant’s themes and ol’ Al Gore in titling “An
Inconvenient Truth” = essentially advocating saving the environment by killing
Mexicans.
“My name is John Earnest and I am a
man of European ancestry,” begins the untitled tome of another self-described
patriot ridding the world of Them… in this case, Jews.
Copycat gunmen strike Springfield,
Mo, Norway and Australia. And, perhaps presciently, the UN warns of coming famines and
Greta Thunberg embarks on her ocean voyage to protest climate change.
August 20, 2019 - HO! HO! HO!…
MERRY CHRISTMAS! – “On Monday last, Djonald Unchained
proclaimed that Chinese imports would henceforth be slapped with tariffs of ten
percent… or maybe twenty-five, his tweetings on the
subject were somewhat incoherent, let alone inconsistent. On Tuesday, a week ago,
some kindly or, at least, sensible angel usually bumped off his shoulder
soldiered back on and whispered to POTUS that raising the prices on cheap
Chinese junk for the kiddies… plastic action figures from the movies and
stuffed rabbits and socks that fall apart during the first wash… would destroy
Christmas for at least half the country and perhaps three-quarters of his
base.”
Toymaker
Hasbro (HAS) has already announced that it will slowly move its production out
to India and Vietnam from China. It currently makes about two-thirds of its
products in China and wants to cut that in half by 2020.
Until World War I, tariffs were a large source of revenue
for the U.S. government. Then came the
income tax. Now they are
mostly used to reward or punish other nations. While Trump’s supporters claim tariffs are
saving and creating American jobs, economists say the
benefits are going to Communist Vietnam.
Ho! Ho! Ho Chi Minh!
50th anniversary of Woodstock goes mostly
uncelebrated. Tonya Harding and Johnny
(Football) Manziell found selling insurance – soon
joined by alt-right’s Sebastian Gorka.
August 27, 2019 - LET
LYIN’ DOGS SLEEP! – “These
are the dog days of summer – the dogs too tired to bark, donkeys too tired to
bray (but they still do, anyway) and the elephants turn on their keepers.”
The DNC in its infinite and pecuniary wisdom
chose not to hold debates in August, so the next bray-fest will be on September
12th, maybe 13th too, deep in
the heart of Texas. Tomorrow will be the
deadline for the still twenty-something candidates to qualify. We posted thumbnail sketches of the
applicants as well as our second poll of polls, in which Joe Biden rallied to
knock Kamala Harris back to fourth behind Bernie and Pocahontas.
The President, meanwhile, declared himself “The
Chosen One”, then went to France to praise Russia and
damn Denmark for not selling Greenland.
Amazon (the jungle, not the company) burns as
do Tesla solar panels at WalMart. On the positive side, the notorious RBG beats
cancer – again.
SEPTEMBER – September 3 – 26,008.06; 16,405.76; September 10 – 25,909.43; 16,412.13 September 17 –27,054.58 16,372.41; September 24 – 26,807.77; 16,406.71
SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 – FLOWERS for UNION FUNERALS! – “Dawn broke over Black Lake on Wednesday
morning, less than a week before the 2019 Labor Day holiday, shining down upon
Federal agents armed with sealed search warrants, brown boxes and weapons of
mob destruction” descending upon the Canton Township, Michigan mansion of UAW President Gary Jones to seize a
cache of cash, secret documents and union records.
The UAW is in the middle of negotiating
its next set of four-year contracts with the Detroit Three.
As (choose one) robots or immigrants hoover
up jobs, union workers are turning bitter and nihilist… life expectancy is down
due to murder, suicide, overdoses and obesity, corruption still decimates their
leadership and… look who they elected President! Laid off machinists, engineers and assemblers
find work as temporary salesclerks or “independent contractors” at sub-minimum
wages. They endure it due to a
longstanding near-appreciation for suffering; the real man is able to take (not
give) a beating and support and vote for their oppressors.
“Marc Linder, this
Iowa law professor, even wrote an effin' book
on employers as feed their macho by making employees crap themselves, calling
it... and I kid you not... "Void Where Prohibited". The problem,
Linder says, is "much more widespread than we had originally
believed."
Government
revenues were up significantly, significantly enough to ensure the DJI a slight
weekly gain. And
the National Debt dropped… only a smidgen, but still significant in that it has
otherwise been rising almost consistently, week to week. A fired truck
driver shoots 25 in Texas, seven die, and Texas responds to another mass shooting at Sunday
Mass by loosening gun laws. Hurricane Dorian misses Puerto
Rico but slams Bahamas, Pope Francis gets stuck in an elevator after Vatican
power outage and armed mobs storm Texas Popeye’s that runs out of chicken
sandwiches,
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 – MENTAL REVENGE! – “(O)ne Seth Ator, a truck
driver from Odessa (and putative relative to a member of the rock band Blind
Melon)… some three hundred miles north of the West Texas town of El Paso, for
whom the last day of August was a very bad day indeed. He woke up angry, grabbed his guns and drove
to work angry, was fired and left in a huff and then was clocked by a police
prowl car for failing to use a turn signal.”
Thereafter,
he drove to work with the police in hot pursuit, killing the trooper and a
postwoman, whose vehicle he jacked, driving to a movie theatre where he gunned
down a few more people, several fatally, wounded a 17 month
old girl in the face, and was killed, himself.
He
left no manifesto or social media footsteps and had only a minor criminal
record but was ruled too mentally disturbed to buy firearms; nonetheless the
man dubbed El Loco by neighbors assembled his arsenal and contented himself
with shooting small animals until his bad day.
Afterwards,
left and right wing partisans and freelance conspiracy theorists claimed he was
part of the Other side. Lacking direct, first-hand ballyhoo on the
killer, the local and national media lost interest and quickly moved on to
other sensational disclosures.
Intellectuals drew up proposals for studies to be
subsidized by private or public benefactors.
A Quora peanut posted: “The only two
things we know are the most mass murders are committed by unemployed males
under the age of 40.”
Another
mass murderer, Hurricane Dorian, rattled the Bahamas (and were kicked off
rescue ferryboats by ICE because their papers had been washed away) but Trump
fired his gung-ho, guns-a-blazin’ National Security Advisor
Bolton. Former Mayor (and future
candidate) Bloomberg calls gentrification “fake news”.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 – WATCH OUT for WAYNE! – Florida Mayor Wayne (Messam) was again excluded from
the Democratic debate in Texas, despite rising to a favorite son tally of three
percent in the Florida primary… on the way to winning maybe a handful of
delegates that could prove crucial if Biden, Warren and Bernie send the race
into a brokered settlement.
This third debate lacked, with the one notable
exception above, the passion and the panache of the first two, but did afford a
few moments of low comedy… Andrew Yang reiterated and upgraded his grand a
month offer despite the examples of George McGovern and Richard Nixon. Julian Castro called Uncle Joe senile and Beto promised to take away Texans’ guns, ensuring that
neither will be able to run for lower office in that state when they drop
out. Parents at a high school football
game responded by a shootout.
Elsewhere, gas prices were down despite an
Iranian attack on Saudi oil refineries (flexing their macho after Bolton’s firing?) RIP
journalist Cokie Roberts.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 – WOKE TV! – “There’s a new television
season that opened last night, but first the crumbs of the 2018-19 season had to
be swept off the red carpet at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards which… speaking of
partisanship… was torn up and replaced by a deep purple rug. According to “Good Day LA” anchor Rita
Garcia, the Television Academy chose the color to specifically evoke royalty…
but could the color change have been a subtle dis on the President’s red state
America?”
But
if so, why not a royal blue to underscore the resistance, or a nice, lush green
as a protest against climate change and the President’s weaponizing
of the Environmental Protection Agency as a force upholding the fossil fuel and toxic chemical industries? Or black, because
black carpets matter? Or
pink, to show Hollywood cares… really, really cares… about fighting cancer.
Or anything but the sickly hue of orange-yellow
as stands-in for Donald Trump.
This was the least watched
Emmy broadcast ever
and second straight no-host ceremony after Kevin Hart’s Oscar meltdown. Television
recalls, portrays, predicts and sometimes reflects the larger timbre of the
times, so what sort of ethos does the new season portend?
Aside from the no-war with Iran, we have the astonishing
(astonishing!) revelation that our American President twisted the arm of Ukraine’s
comedian-leader to dig up and hand over dirt on Joe Biden’s
surviving son. John Bolton (subsequently Barr-ed
from impeachment testimony) began leaking stories that he opposed the
President’s Ukraine strategy, and will probably have a book out… oh, around…
Halloween, 2020?
And…
the Fed cut interest rates 0.25%, Trump declared war on that 15 year old
Swedish girl as International climate Change protests proliferate in NY and
scientists reported that the birds and
the bees are disappearing, and Canadian PM Justin (boytoy)
Trudeau was called a racist after old photos surfaced of him in blackface
pretending to be Aladdin. Don’t expect help from Batman… he’s turned 80.
OCTOBER – October 1 – 26,573.04; 16,402.79; October 8 – 26,164.04;
16,454.66; October 15 – 27,024.80; 16,459.18; October 22 – 26,788.10;
16,442.36; October 29 – 27,073.77;
16.446.97
October 1, 2019 – UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES! “Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally capitulated to The Squad (and two hundred
other vigilantes on the Democratic side of the House) and greenlighted an
issuance of Articles of Impeachment against President Trump.
“The straw that broke
(or, some would say, stiffened) the donkey’s backbone was the transcript of a
telephonic conversation between POTUS and Volodymyr Zelensky (or Zelenskyy), the
comedian-President of Ukraine in which the former threatened to withhold badly
needed funding and military supplies that Kiev needs to put down an
insurrection by Russian-speaking terrorists all over the country unless the
Z-Man provided (or created) sufficient dirt on former American Veep and leading Democratic politician Joe Biden’s
surviving son, Hunter.”
The House greenlighted “(s)ix
effin’ Committees.
Six! MAGA-men tweeted “Overkill!” while comedians
and commentators sharpened their… pencils.” A whistle was blown for the mysterious
Whistleblower, the President lashed out against evil Nancy and “Liddle Adam Schiff”. Rudy Giuliani hit the talkshow
circuit with some… interesting… conspiracy theories. Democratic poodles yapped. Republican poodles sat up and begged and the
prognosticators prognosticated. “But in
our land of unintended consequences, if Hunter’s wild ride rebounds against his
father and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma) prevails in the nomination process and
general election, Republicans might well have cause to regret their character
assassination of Sleepy Joe.”
(Warren
is mentioned, not Sanders, because the Bern had a heart attack – prognosis
unknown.) While waiting for their
impeachment moment, the Senate kicked the budget can down the road and a
Japanese billionaire hired Elon Musk to send him to the moon!
October 8, 2019 – EIGHT CRAZY MONTHS!
– “Consider a nation wracked by election
fever. Divided almost equally among
parties, among factions… divided by race and religion and equality (or its
lack). Partisan mobs marching and
fighting in the streets… slogans, recriminations, blood. The burden of history. An incumbent President, swept into office due
to a complex and (some would say) corrupt electoral system beset on all sides
by litigious prosecutors and politicians, fighting charges that could whisk him
from the Presidential palace to prison… charges that he defiantly castigates as
“a witch hunt”.”
No, not America. Israel!
We did note differences between Trump and Netanyahu… the Israeli PM is considered competent (though their proportional electoral
system is engineered for chaos – the major parties having to scratch for
partners among the ultra-religious and secular fanatics). And the Palestinian problem seems insoluble…
like Djonald playing to his base… left and right being less about taxes and equality than
race and religion and whether, even, the Palestinians merit a designation as
human beings.
And the American
President has, if possible, worsened the MidEast
cauldron by pulling troops out of Syria, leading to a Turkish massacre of Kurds
and 10,000 ISIS maniacs escaping from prisons.
Police say “The Joker” will inspire more school shooters.
October 15, 2019 – A DATE that will LIVE in INFAMY!
– “October 8, 2019. Another day that will dwell in infamy, even
if the President does not say so… in fact, Donald Trump precipitated this
catastrophe wholly on his own, and even against the advice of some of his most
loyal advisors. No Americans died in
Syria that day, but the damage done was to the aura of the United States… the
President wiping his behind on the (largely unwritten) Contract With America that has guided our foreign policy for well
over a century: That Americans, in fact, keep their promises.
“That they support their allies and punish their enemies.
“No longer.”
Long before Wednesday’s debacle, the impeachable Trump had chucked
children into cages, sneered at NATO while embracing Kim and Putin and the
Nazis at Charlottesville, even taunted his white, downwardly-mobile working
class base by cutting taxes for billionaires Only dumb luck or the perversity
of God has kept him from starting a major war or crashing the economy, but for
how long? Even
the rightest of righteous evangelicals are losing faith…
Even his Number One bootboy Mitch McConnell professed to be ‘gravely concerned’. Will Erdogan confiscate the nukes slated to be left behind at U.S. bases on Turkish soil? Will NATO… with or without American input,
give the Turks the heave-ho?
Will it take another Abraham Lincoln Brigade to protect our interests
in the MidEast?
So far, the terror has been domestic… a gunman shooting up a New
Hampshire wedding, a Texas cop butchering a (black) woman during a welfare
check, “Day of the Locust” wildfires
menace L.A. and a Carolina nursing home staging Fight Club fun between Alzheimers’ patients.
The upsides? Simone (gymnastics)
and Coco (tennis) and a roaring stock market… perhaps salivating over
replacement of all that military gear abandoned to the Turks and Russians.
October 22, 2019 - DOG’S DAY AFTERNOON! – “Today, so the persons on the television inform me, is National Dog’s
Day. Don Jones finds it an admirable and
useful holiday… even if there’s no paid day off… it’s a marketing ploy to sell
more stuff (kibble, bits, leashes or, of all things, cars) but it also gives a
shout-out to the rescue dog adoption folks down at your local pound”… and why not a dogs’ day?
“So the dogs come out once a year to be recognized just as the
candidates… Democrats only, our imperial President has ordained no Republican
may speak against him and apparently about 95% of the party faithful agree…
wheel round like the hands of a demented grandfather clock.” An economically bad week, dogged by a Brexit n’ China drop in the Dow and a skyrocketing balance
of trade deficit elicited apologies and rationalizations from lapdog
economists, who equate deficits with a strong dollar.
The
Joneses did, however, consider the money well spent on
the first all-girl spacewalk and law enforcement who rounded up a dozen
neo-Nazis and foiled a synagogue massacre plot.
Someone also exposed Mitt Romney as social media swashbuckler Pierre Delecto.
October 29, 2019 –
HEY, BOZE, GET OFFA MY CLOUD – “Defensters awarded the ten year, ten billion dollar contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, known as JEDI,
to Microsoft in a space chase race, which set off a Royal Rumble of very, very
wealthy people. Amazon had
been considered the front-runner, in part because it
had built cloud services for the Central Intelligence Agency, but its balding,
divorcing, Libertariush sultan Jeff Bezos had bought
the WashPost and used it to tweak Trump’s snout.
Nick Wakeman of the Government
Cloud Insider predicted litigation, and so it has come to
pass. Komrade Putin is pleased, military
brass are… nobody cares, apparantly, least of all the
President who has cashiered military commanders
like Mattis, Kelly, Dunford,
Amos, Allen, Paxton, McMaster and the ill-starred Mike Flynn from his inner
circle; “he just whispered a hint to his latest DefSec,
Mark T. Esper, that nepotism is a horrible,
horrible evil and Esper… whose son worked for IBM,
one of the competitors for the contract… said he wanted to take several months
to review the issue and then recused himself from the bidding, leaving the
final decision to more pliable acting acting actors
in the bowels beneath the secret tunnels winding from 1600 Pennsy
to the Pentagon. Only a few tech=savvy civil liberties Cassandras among the Microserfs are complaining about JEDI’s darkside
apps in the domestic surveillance and suppression arena.
Bezos, unfortunately, has a paucity of friends among
liberals… the President and Senator/Candidate Elizabeth
Warren don’t agree on much, but the Massachusetts Madam also has a grudge against
Amazon for its avoidance of taxes, monopolistic lusts and vicious treatment of
employees. She has called for antitrust
action against Amazon, Google and Facebook (but not Microsoft!) while Mr. T.
has been hawking campaign novelties like inflatable
pool floats, MAGA hats and “I DON’T KNEEL” hoodies here.
High tech dronery… and a hero dog… ran down ISOID dictator
al-Baghdadi, who blew up himself and his children, thus delighting Djonald Unchained.
Not delightful… impeachment hearings began on Halloween. California wildfires create 200,000 refugees in Sonoma and Los Angeles
counties. Sexy spy Maria Butina and college cheat
Felicity Huffman freed, the latter getting three days
grace for good behavior in her bad-looking prison jumpsuit. Police officer wins lawsuit after being told to “tone down his gayness”. Students train rats to drive tiny cars. Spanish dictator Franco exhumed,
found to be still dead.
NOVEMBER – November 5 – 27,492.63; 16.469.88 November 12 – 27,691.49; 16.466.95 November 19 – 27,934.02; 16.455.99 November 26 – 28,121.69; 16.471.51
November 5, 2019 – AN OPEN
LETTER to ELIOT ENGEL and NANCY PELOSI! – ”We implore the
august Congresspersons to include, as one of their articles of impeachment,
President Trump’s craven and short-sighted abandonment of our Kurdish allies to
the untender unmercies of Turkish dictator Erdogan
who has already begun a Fourth Reich-like ethnic cleansing, murdering thousands
and displacing tens of thousands of civilian refugees, including children. The damage to America’s reputation as a
bastion of hope and freedom has been catastrophic…”
“The Syrian pullout
has angered many of Trump's friends in low places… Gulf War veterans,
evangelical Christians, even the sycophants in his pet media. Like hen in the Foxhouse
Judith Miller, who called the American rout a "betrayal" of the
Kurds, reproaching: "Shame on President Trump. For while Washington has repeatedly abandoned the
Kurds for what the French call “raison d’état” – or, presumed short-term
national security gains -- never has the betrayal felt so naked – or
unwise."
With Senate majority leader McConnell boasting that he is co-ordinating with the accused and
Attorney General Barr’s willingness to refuse to enforce ignored subpoenas
(it’s even possible that he will order the arrest of one or both Bidens should they follow suit) the playing field will be
the 2020 elections and emotion, not the law, will win or lose the day. With only the Ukraine scandal in hand, sleazy
and illegal as it is, the Senate will brush the charges aside, pronounce
exoneration and Trump will win his second term.
If, however, Syria is added as an Article,
Senate Democrats can bring administration hostiles to the floor… the military
in the field, political and economic experts cognizant of the result of this
action, and victims of Turkey’s ethnic cleansing. Federal interest rate cuts mean the economy
may be percolating… stocks were up this week as was the balance of trade and
employment (according to DebtClock but not the BLS)…
but what will be the impact on Trump’s base of testimony by (or, worse, McConell’s expelling from the Senate of) mutilated,
orphaned children? Not positive.
We included, as
attachments, denunciations from General (and
former Defense Secretary) James Mattis and from Admiral William McRaven. Elsewhere, Bolton flipped on flipping the
President, Michigan’s UAW and Chicago teachers’ strikes settled and the
Nationals bring a World Series title to Washington after 95 years.
November 12, 2019 – FROZEN, TOO! – Bye Bye Beto…
after promising to take Texans’ guns away his political career is over and he’ll
have to get his punk-rock band back together. And
hello Michael Bloomberg… former Gotham mayor, Coca-Cola hater and billionaire
richer than Tom Steyer.
He brings America together… “Soros, Steyer, Bezos and
Bloomberg — the big four archenemies of Liberty — share an insatiable
narcissistic quest for power,” warned the right-wing Patriot Post, from the
left, Prospect.org called the billionaire candidacies “almost surgically
designed to repel practically every American voter on some level.”
Don’t
look to the Greens; Ralph Nader is cheerleading for Bloomberg, their new
Messiah, Mad Vlad Putin, can’t vote and their bench is burdened with censorious
non-entities. The Libertarian
convention, occuring May 22nd to 25th
in Austin, will feature a bunch of dour, sour
bananas in off-the-rack business suits, monochrome ties and sensible shoes
wielding Ayn Rand paperbacks unless God takes pity on America and they nominate
a wild card… either boot-hatted, toothbrush wielding Vermin Supreme or software
tycoon and murder fugitive (in Cuba,
yet!) John McAfee who charmed the
Cuban version of ICE with his paeans to Che Guevara.
"Go
ahead and get upset" was McAfee's message to Libtards
unhappy with tweeted support for a bloody Communist revolutionary. "I'm
for revolutionary people.”
A January deep freeze and blizzard swooped down from Canada like a
vengeful Justin Trudeau this week after Halloween and froze Don Jones and everything and everybody he cared for. Climate
change also blamed for lower Maine lobster harvest and Trump
will invite Turkish butcher Erdogan to the White House tomorrow. PC version of “Baby It’s
Cold Outside” wins bipartisan derision.
November 19, 2019 – BOOK ‘EM… uh… WHOMEVER! – ”If Jair Bolsonaro, the
Brazilian dictator responsible for burning down the Amazon rainforest, and
Pacific Gas and Electric, the California utility whose shoddy grid has been
blamed for inciting most of that state’s wildfires, are the numbers one and two
culprits in the destruction of the world’s forests, then the third villain
would have to be the insatiable publishing industry, churning out record
quantities of partisan books in this political silly season a year before the
2020 elections.”
Everybody has a book to peddle. Joe
Biden is the author of “Promise Me, Dad” about the death of son Beau (the good
one) by cancer. “Where We Go From Here” asks the Bern’s manifesto, Cory Booker penned
“United”… a “message of hope, optimism, and love”. From Mayor Pete comes “Shortest Way Home”,
Andrew Yang’s new epic is “The War on Normal People” and Julian Castro
contributes “An Unlikely Journey” (Beto
self-published “Dealing Death and Drugs”, then self-destructed). From the ladies come
Warren’s “This Fight is Our Fight”.
“Smart on Crime” (Kamala Harris), “The Senator Next Door” (Amy
Klobuchar) and Tulsi Gabbard’s
“Is Today the Day?”
Fewer G.O.P. candidates mean fewer trees destroyed, but Vice President
Mike Pence has written a children’s book about his bunny; former UN Ambassador
Nikki Haley checks in with “With All Due Respect”. The Trump family is
represented by Junior “Triggered”, Erik (“The Politics of Zoos”) and Ivanka’s “Trump Card” can be had on Amazon for seventy-nine
cents. Donald himself seems to be
coveting the green vote – saving paper by issuing tweets by the thousand.
We haven’t even listed Michael Bloomberg’s outpourings yet, nor Tom Steyer’s. There are a lot of them.
“But, at the moment, the king of all tree mulching tomes is the simply
titled and starkly jacketed “A Warning”, written by that ever-active citizen of
trolldom and panegyrics, Anonymous.” Trump and BilBarr have mobilized lawyers to suppress publication which, of course, only increases sales, the
basest of the base… alt-right to neo-Nazi to just plain Nazi are promoting
rallies in the Presidents support.
“The freaks flocking to Djonald’s
defense are even being disrespected by orthodox hate groups like Veterans Today
which slams “these gun-toting morons in the militia movement” and avers that
he’s “a complete fraud, a creation of Judeo-Zionist organised
crime that should be in a jail cell rather than the oval office.”
The best that the outmanned, outgunned leftists in AntiFa
could raise up against this swastikanado was a blast
from the past… the aging “Revolutionary Communist” Bob Avakian,
notorious for posting thousands of posters of his own face on walls across
America in the 70’s.
A newspaper in Texas, of all places, declared that
“America has entered into Alex Jones’ wheelhouse”.
Gas prices drop a little bit, Venice (Italy) suffers 50-year
flood, Venice (Cal.) hits 90 degrees. Men who own Taylor Swift songs relent on
performance ban. Sean Spicer eliminated
from Dancing. Mega=Maga=Pedo Jeffrey Epstein hangs himself; Prince Andrew denies
joining him on his nocturnal missions.
Men who own Taylor Swift songs relent on performance ban. Sean Spicer eliminated from Dancing.
November 26, 2019 – COOK ‘EM and EAT ‘EM! – “President Trump set before America a reality-show feast, a popular vote featuring the pair of
turkeys, Bread and Butter (replacing
last year’s finalists, Peas and Carrots).
Housed for the previous two days at the $449 per night Willard
Inter-Continental Hotel (where they soiled the carpet and mean-eyeballed
photographers), the winner, Butter, was duly pardoned” (and Bread
was pardoned, too).
POTUS welcomed another Turkey (in
the form of its bloody “President” Erdogan) to the White House where he was
presumably served a meal of… something else.
Maybe some maybe-ish sanctions?
Congress issued a pardon, of
sorts, too to Djonald Unindicted… impeachment testimony centering solely upon the Ukrainian bribery and
quid pro quo low misdemeanors, Ms. Pelosi and Co. choosing to ignore the
Syrian/Kurdish covfefe. Instead, they heard Gordon Sondland (Ambassador to the EU) testify on Wednesday (20th)
that Rudy G. was at the center of the whole Ukrainian mess, Pence was in the
loop, also Pompeo and Perry, Mulvaney and Bolton...
on Thursday Fiona Hill, a British Boltonette,
confirmed that her boss called Rudy a “hand grenade” and the Burisma adventure “a drug deal.” One David Holmes, a fly on the wall at Sondland’s Kiev restaurant meeting with a Zelenskyy-man testified that Trump’s loud voice audibly
confirmed the poison-pen July 25th letter, to which Sondland replied that the Z-man “loved his ass.” Then, the networks cut away from coverage…
CBS going back to “The Price is Right”
ABC’s George Stephanopolous admired how calm
and collected Sondland was. “It’s all about Sondland
now, it’s all about him,” said Georgie.
“Everyone’s hair was on fire.”
The crankling, ruttering
impeachment tumbrel managed to suck all the air out of the fifth Democratic
Presidential Debate, which earned MSNBC the lowest rating of the five to
date. In our poll-of-polls, Sanders took
over the top slot, followed by Warren and Biden. Harris slid to 6th,
behind Mayor Pete and even Andrew Yang, presaging… you know!
After pardoning Butter, Trump gave Conan, the Baghdadi-biting dog, a
certificate of heroism (but no food, not even a piece of Bread). Roger Stone sought a pardon too, not
delivered. Movie
moguls accused of promoting Julia Roberts (!!?!) as
Harriet Tubman.
DECEMBER – December 3 - 27,502.81; 16,449.39 December
10 - 27,881.72; 16.580.70
December
17 – 28,267.16; 16.578.79 December 24 – 28,455.09; 16,574,71
DECEMBER 3, 2019 – THANKS for
the MUMMERIES; YANKS chase the MAMMERIES?! – “Thanksgiving is done and Christmas on the way. Bellies are full (well, many of them) and
black Black Friday deals flatter the dreams of the
young, the young at heart, and the juvenile minds of all ages; emoluments,
favors and sugarplums tossed from the bowers of fairies with holiday hearts and
sharp teeth.
“Everybody has something to be thankful for… the rich as the poor, the
black as the white, immigrant or native.
And they also have something to covet… the farmer or banker or toddler,
the Americans, Brits or the little wogs in far off,
hot places; the Christian or heathen (whether or not they believe Jesus, God,
Satan or Santa… everybody likes free stuff).”
Swamp creatures, candidates… even The Fallen… everybody has something
to be grateful for and something to wish for.
Donald Trump can thank the roaring economy and the appreciation bestowed
upon him, even by skeptics, after he signs a resolution praising the freedom
fighters in Hong Kong (if not Syria). And he can covet a divided Democratic convention, perhaps
even a walkout and independent split, and also… per the title… a secret night
out with BFF Prince Andrew at Jeff Epstein’s townhouse, just for auld lang syne.
Melania can hope for an
honorable 2020 defeat, followed by an honorable (and lucrative) divorce. Rudy G. can be thankful for “that delicious
rat he caught in the attic last night.”
Joe Biden looks forward to the South Carolina primary and, maybe, a kind
word from his old boss, Obama. Kamala
Harris, though feeling rather ungrateful for now, looks forward to a maybe
appointment as America’s Attorney General in 2021 and a fistful of indictments
for Team Trump. And so on.
Back in real time, Team Trump slapped tariffs on French wine and
cheese, limousine liberals exclaimed “Mon Dieu!” Macy’s Parade balloons survive
high winds (but Ronald McDonald suffers deflation in one leg, forcing him to
crawl like a demented spider). Chicago’s
Police Chief is fired for sleeping on the job.
DECEMBER 10, 2019 – WORLD WAR Z(elensky)! –
“Well, they dooded it…
FROM THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS:
House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled two articles of
impeachment against President Donald Trump that will serve as the basis for
action by the House Judiciary Committee. One accuses Trump of abuse of power,
and the other accuses him of obstruction of Congress.”
Article One, in short, interpreted the phrase “do us a
favor” in the President’s letter of July 25th, subsequently
bolstered by his telephone conversation with Sondlund,
as meaning the offer of a quid pro quo… $391 million in Congressional approved
military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an announcement by President Zelenskyy that they were investigating the appointment of
Joseph Biden’s son, Hunter, to a $30,000 per month “job” at the Burisima Gasworks. Not necessarily a finding of extortion or
corruption, not even a real investigation… just an announcement. Z-man allegedly told Sondland
that he “loved” Trump’s ass, but delayed and deferred said announcement until
Trump gave him the money anyway, thus calling into question whether an
attempted crime (if, indeed, such was a
crime) failed, could the President be impeached? Article Two, the coverup,
has been more flagrant… Attorney General BilBarr has
refused to issue subpoenas to witnesses like Treasury Secretary cum Chief of
Staff Mulvaney, National Securitor
Bolton or, of course, man about Kiyev Rudy Giuliani
and Senate Chair Mitch McCee has openly stated that
he would not permit witnesses of any soft, and work with the accused, Trump, in the course of the trial.
That’s
it. Democratic-leaning lawyers at the six impeachment hearings said crimes were committed,
rebuttal Republicans replied “not so.”
Partisans in politics, the media, the law schools and the street
responded according to their prejudices.
Five hundred pointyheads from leading
universities and law schools, signed an open letter concluding “President Trump
engaged in impeachable conduct,” while we reported that “Uncle Joe exploded
when a fat Iowa farmer asked how the boy secured that gas gig at a monthly
salary that would look sweet as a yearly income to many Iowans, screaming back
“You’re a damn liar!”
Trump could take solace in the still-booming economy
with wages, employment and the trade balance up, up, up and the stock market
spinning off to higher and higher heights.
800,000 Hong Kong democracy protestors overwhelmed police,
a Son-of-NAFTA deal was cut. Santa’s
reindeer were starving due to Arctic warming, so Finland elected a 34 year old female Prime Minister. Down under, wildfires menaced the kangaroos
and the koalas and a New Zealand volcano full of careless tourists blew its
top. “Big Bird” died, and a $120,000
banana duct taped to an art gallery wall was removed and
eaten by a perpetrator.
The Don hit its 2019 high (see above).
DECEMBER 17, 2019 – SPIN CYCLE! – With impeachment
tomorrow all but certain and conviction next to impossible, we took a look at
how the media… print, social and anti-social, skew
their editorials and, sometimes, facts to fit their prejudices. “To
do so, we located and compiled reports from a dozen mixed sources… austere,
esteemed (and presumably well-financed) arbiters of propaganda and the press,
as well as a few lonely, personal blogs by critics with apparently enough time
to sort through an enormous slushpile of journals and
websites – many of which were of interest only to the most rabid partisans.”
The DJI found Trump’s beloved Breitbart and an extreme fundamentalist
World News Daily to be the most right-wing outlets, while Mother
Jones and Salon were favored by the leftists. Our award to the least-biased source was the
much-employed Real Clear Politics poll directory,
slightly to the left were a couple of Brits… Reuters and The
Economist… slightly rightly were The Hill and Business Insider. Many interesting but obscure sites were rated – news junkies might do well to revisit that
Lesson and try out a few that fit your beliefs.
Or not.
After their pre-holiday orgy of fiscal gluttony, the Dow and the Don
returned to normalcy. As usual, inflation
(including gas prices) was up, but not to the extent of holiday gouging and
grinding. Nor was
“Peace on Earth” much observed… Don Junior went to Mongolia and
killed a lamb to spare a turkey, there
were riots in all the usual and a few new places (India, Italy, Thailand),
“Black Israelites” killed six Jersey City Jews and the outgoing Kentucky
Governor pardoned a thousand prisoners, including the “killer spawn of
contributors”.
Madrid’s America-boycotted climate
change summit ended in failure as boat person. Greta Thunberg was named Time’s Person of the Year and numerous other
awards were doled out to the deserving and undeserving. Los Angelenos
cheered the termination of the evil mountain lion who’d
been eating their pets.
DECEMBER 24, 2019 – RING OUT the OLD! – We rang
out the first six months of 2018... the
momentous and the absurd, the troublesome and the tasty, the quick and the
dead, the Dow and the Don... as Attachment Two. To nobody’s surprise, President Donald J.
Trump was impeached on a near-total party-line vote
(one Democrat voted “no”, jumped to the Republicans and his staff promptly
quit). Senate Majority Leader McConnell
declared that he would be working with the President on the trial and Trump
retaliated with a nasty letter to Speaker Pelosi (text
in Attachment Three), then told his base that her teeth were falling out. Pelosi, for her part, said she would not give
Mac the articles until he promised to call witnesses – he refused, so now we
have a cop/spy/chase movie scenario at hand.
The economy gentled down to a mild, rising hum
(although Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, angry over losing his JEDI deal, is now trying
to run Federal Express off the road and monopolize dronal
package delivery). The same riots
continued in the same places, but domestic terror arose only in Russia where
somebody (a hero? an idiot?) stormed the headquarters of the FSB/GRU (formerly
known as KGB) and assassinated various Boris Badenovs. Just ordinary bad will towards men here…
numerous incidents of holiday violence included multiple mall murders over
Black Friday discounts, wedding crashers beating a groom to death with baseball bats
and Dad shot the barber for giving Junior a devil’s haircut.
The USDA hailed “Wakanda”
as its newest trade partner, sick
puppies infected people in 13 states, and the Star Wars finale drowned “Cats”
at the box office.
New Year’s
Eve/Day here again. Don Jones drew down
2019 with another record stock market closing, although the Iranian-supported
attack against the Baghdad embassy sent the Dow tumbling from its December 10th apex.
A flurry of state and local minimum wage and overtime changes made the
Joneses smile, looking forward into 2020.
And, on the
politico-religious front, the influential evangelical journal “Christianity
Today” broke with Donald Trump, citing his “gross immorality and ethical
incompetence.” (See Attachment
Four) This was notable in that CT was
founded by Billy Graham,
(although Franklin does not share the dis-endorsement). From above:
July 2nd – “Franklin Graham (Billy’s Boy) has risen up to slough off the burden of his namby-pamby father and has initiated a National Day of Prayer for Donald Trump and against His enemies.”
THE
DON JONES INDEX
CHART of
CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000
(REFLECTING…
approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)
See a further
explanation of categories here…
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
ECONOMIC
INDICES (60%) |
|
||||||||||||||||
DON JONES’
PERSONAL ECONOMIC INDEX (45% of TOTAL INDEX POINTS) |
|
||||||||||||||||
CATEGORY |
VALUE |
BASE |
|
RESULTS |
|
SCORE |
SCORE |
OUR SOURCE(S) and COMMENTS |
|
||||||||
INCOME |
(24%) |
6/27/13 |
LAST |
CHANGE |
NEXT |
12/17/19 |
12/24/19 |
SOURCE |
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
Wages (hourly, per capita) |
9% |
1350 pts. |
12/17/19 |
+0.55% |
Jan. 2020 |
1,554.15 |
1,554.15 |
|
|
|
|
||||||
Median Income (yearly) |
4% |
600 |
12/17/19 |
+0.07% |
1/1/20 |
714.69 |
715.18 |
|
|
|
debtclock.org/ 33,640 |
|
|||||
Unempl. (BLS –
in millions |
4% |
600 |
12/17/19 |
-2.86% |
Jan. 2020 |
1,337.66 |
1,337.66 |
|
|
||||||||
Official (DC
– in millions) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
-0.09% |
1/1/20 |
583.21 |
583.71 |
|
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 5,777 |
|
|||||||
Unofficl. (DC
– in millions) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
-0.21% |
1/1/20 |
630.22 |
631.59 |
|
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 10,517 |
|
|||||||
Workforce Participation Number (in millions) Percentage (DC) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.026% +0.006% |
1/1/20 |
285.56 |
285.58 |
|
In 158,739 Out 95,594 Total: 254,333 http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 62.41% |
|
|||||||
WP Percentage (ycharts)* |
1% |
150 |
12/24/19 |
+0.16% |
Jan. 2020 |
152.26 |
152.02 |
|
http://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate 63.20 |
|
|||||||
OUTGO |
(15%) |
|
|
||||||||||||||
Total
Inflation |
7% |
1050 |
12/24/19 |
+0.3% |
Jan. 2020 |
945.38 |
945.38 |
|
|
||||||||
Food |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.1% |
Jan. 2020 |
272.31 |
272.31 |
|
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm 0.1 |
|
|||||||
Gasoline |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+1.1% |
Jan. 2020 |
255.76 |
255.76 |
|
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +1.1 |
|
|||||||
Medical
Costs |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.4% |
Jan. 2020 |
249.67 |
249.67 |
|
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.4 |
|
|||||||
Shelter |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.3% |
Jan. 2020 |
270.37 |
270.37 |
|
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.3 |
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
WEALTH |
(6%) |
|
|||||||||||||||
Dow
Jones Index |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.29% |
1/8/20 |
482.89 |
483.90 |
|
https://quotes.wsj.com/index/DJIA – 28,455.09 462.14 |
|
|||||||
Sales (homes) Valuation (homes) |
1% 1% |
150 150 |
11/26/19 11/26/19 |
-2.06% +0.15% |
Jan. 2020 Jan. 2020 |
195.69 241.09 |
195.69 241.09 |
http://www.realtor.org/research-and-statistics Sales (M): 5.35 Valuations (K): 271.3 |
|
||||||||
Debt
(Personal) |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.14% |
Jan. 2020 |
239.28 |
239.28 |
|
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 61,190 |
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
AMERICAN ECONOMIC INDEX
(15% of TOTAL INDEX POINTS) |
|
|||||||||||||||
NATIONAL |
(10%) |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
Revenues (in trillions) |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.06% |
1/8/20 |
404.25 |
404.48 |
|
debtclock.org/ 3,504
506 |
|
|||||||
Expenditures
(in tr.) |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.09% |
1/8/20 |
228.80 |
228.60 |
|
debtclock.org/ 4,547 551 |
|
|||||||
National
Debt (tr.) |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
+0.09% |
1/8/20 |
316.28 |
315.99 |
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http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 23,142 163 |
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Aggregate
Debt (tr.) |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
- 0.38% |
1/8/20 |
340.52 |
339.23 |
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http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 74,356
638 |
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GLOBAL |
(5%) |
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Foreign Debt
(tr.) |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.17% |
1/8/20 |
286.47 |
285.60 |
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http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 6,902 914 |
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Exports (in billions – bl.) |
1% |
150 |
12/3/19 |
+0.24% |
Jan. 2020 |
161.09 |
161.09 |
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Imports
(bl.) |
1% |
150 |
12/3/19 |
-1.70% |
Jan. 2020 |
129.62 |
129.62 |
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https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/ 254.3 |
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Trade
Deficit (bl.) |
1% |
150 |
12/3/19 |
-4.77% |
Jan. 2020 |
105.90 |
105.90 |
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https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/ 47.2 |
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SOCIAL INDICES (40%) |
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ACTS of MAN |
(12%) |
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World Peace |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
=1.5% |
1/8/20 |
391.15 |
385.28 |
In tit-for-tat-for-tit war with Iran, drones kill
Iraq terrorists, terrorists storm (but fail to destroy) US Embassy. Syria pullout blowback? Bolton calls Trump a pussy on NoKo, whose surprise is… no surprise. Hong Kong celebrates Christmas ceasefire –
for about five minutes. |
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Terrorism |
2% |
300 |
12/24/19 |
+0.8% |
1/8/20 |
210.53 |
208.85 |
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Neither peace nor
goodwill as another Black Israelite slashes NY Jews with machete and beggar given
food, but not the cash he demanded from a White Settlement (!) Christian church, shoots up services. Somali truck bomb kills 76. |
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Politics |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
+0.3% |
1/8/20 |
436.93 |
438.24 |
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McConnell-Pelosi
chicken game over articles of impeachment and Senate witness calling. West Virginia Governor purges Nazi saluters from prison guard academy. Bloomberg stops using prison labor to call
voters. 77 year old
Biden says he’d choose a Republican Veep… what could
go wrong with that? Jimmy Carter, 95,
becomes oldest-ever President. Twitter
and Spotify ban political ads. |
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Economics |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
+0.5% |
1/8/20 |
433.51 |
435.68 |
|
Minimum wage raised in 24 states –
some also reform overtime laws. Out with
the old… failed CEOs bounced, boing boing, from
Boeing and Uber and, over in Japan, Nissan CEO flees to Lebanon to escape the
law, Die Hard dies hard at Sears… sold
to Advance. |
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Crime |
1% |
150 |
12/24/19 |
-0.1% |
1/8/20 |
224.36 |
224.58 |
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Evil teenage killers rounded up,
including shooter of a 7 year old girl on Christmas Eve in… where else?...
Chicago. Mall maulings proliferate, but final tally
is only one dead. |
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ACTS of GOD |
(6%) |
(with, in some cases, a little… or lots
of… help from men, and a few women) |
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Environment/Weather |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
+0.5% |
1/8/20 |
285.22 |
286.65 |
|
Chicago has a balmy Christmas and
Denver gets its first snowfall on New Years Eve. Tornadoes plague Mississippi. Prince Phillip announces a 5 mil. prize for green pollution-solutions. |
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Natural/Unnatural Disaster |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
-0.2% |
1/8/20 |
330.81 |
331.47 |
|
Five year old survives being run over by a school bus. A hundred or so survive Kazakh plane crash,
12 die… 7 more die in Hawaii chopper crash.
Holiday air travel beset by fog and measles. Australian wildfires killing off koalas and
kangaroos. |
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LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE
INDEX (15%) |
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Science, Tech, Education |
4% |
600 |
12/24/19 |
-0.3% |
1/8/20 |
654.95 |
655.60 |
|
FAA proposes
better drone tracking as China replaces the fireworks invented there with
drones spelling out happy messages. They
also sentence the CRISPR gene genie to 3 years in jail. Christina Koch sets female space endurance
record. |
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Equality (econ./social) |
4% |
600 |
12/24/19 |
-0.1% |
1/8/20 |
683.67 |
680.94 |
|
Anti-Semitism is
the new normal. Frontier Airways
denounced as a rape pit. Black
ballerina stars in Nutcracker, dancer with no left
hand joins Rockettes. |
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Health |
4% |
600 |
12/24/19 |
+0.2% |
1/8/20 |
509.82 |
509.31 |
|
RSV
baby killing virus goes viral. Cheap
eats suffer as listeria infects ramen.
The usual Resolutioners praise diets,
fasting and exercise but some also say that coffee
is good for you. Ohios”Doctor
Death” responsible for 25 ODs, re-raises right to die issue. |
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Freedom and Justice |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
+0.1% |
1/8/20 |
545.33 |
545.33 |
|
Lawyers for
stabbing suspects say anyone who presumes them guilty is a racist. More lawyers for Ring and Amazon hackees initiate class action suits. Even more lawyers suing Pop Warner football
for kiddie concussions. And states and localities pass hundreds of new laws to be
litigated! Comrades denounce
war-crimes pardoned SEAL |
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MISCELLANEOUS
and TRANSIENT INDEX (7%) |
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Cultural incidents |
3% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
+0.1% |
1/8/20 |
452.12 |
452.57 |
|
Awards fly
out of the aether towards athletes… Lebron and Serena… people (Trump, Obama) tie for Time Man
of the Year, and best/worst lists too numerous to mention. A TV doctor pronounces that uncommon things
happen uncommonly”. RIP to Neal (Monte
Python) Innes, songwriter Allee Willis (“Friends”
theme, “Boogie Wonderland”), ESPN reporter Edward Aschoff,
shock jock Don Imus and Broadway producer Jerry Herman (Mame”) Long-running San
Francisco camp classic Beach Blanket Babylon also closes. Star Wars makes 380M and causes seizures…
Cats loses 100M and causes nausea. LSU
and Clemson are last NCAA teams standing.
Sharon Stone kicked off the Bumble dating site (hint: longer skirt), |
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Miscellaneous incidents |
4% |
450 |
12/24/19 |
+0.1% |
1/8/20 |
456.55 |
456.09 |
|
Pope
Francis proclaims “God Loves Everyone” and then slaps a grabby pilgrim. Kevin Spacey’s
yuletide gift is a creepy video, Business Insider names New York the
rudest city. Sydney scoffs at fires,
sets off first in the world fireworks.
Florida man argues with girlfriend, then
punches a gas pump. Jussie-ish cop fakes coffee cup slur. Prince Phillip (98( is
out of the hospital. Good Samaritans
celebrate the holidays by paying off layaway and medical debts for strangers,
aiding the elderly, sick children, rescue animals, the homeless and
immigrants. |
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The
Don Jones Index for the week of December 24th through December 31st, 2019 was
DOWN 3.39 points. The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the
Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent
Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan,
Administrator/Editor. The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization,
as well as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell,
environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman
and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy
and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere
pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective
legal action against parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders. Comments, complaints,
donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com BACK |
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See further indicators at Economist – https://www.economist.com/economic-and
financialndicators/2019/02/02/economic-data-commodities-and-markets
Attachment One – from various