Quiet Before the Storm

Column #476      October 11, 2024

As we’ve all observed over the years, the weather is usually quite nice before the big storms. The two most recent hurricanes (Helene and Milton) to hit the SE USA come to mind. Because they both passed over the naturally warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico both were predicted to be in the big bad storm category and the forecasters nailed it. It will be a long time before the wreckage they left behind will be forgotten.

Now we are just 25 days away from an election. It’s predicted to be the most meaningful election in our country’s history. Amazingly, to date the polling indicates it’s going to be a close race. Yet one side has a record of suppressing basic rights, having a highly flawed foreign policy that causes wars, inflationary spending, open borders with millions of illegal immigrants, a contempt for constitutional law, a plan for more big government, DEI policies, a feckless legal system, lawfare, higher taxes, a wide-open voting system, and many socialist approaches to life. They believe in topdown governance instead of a government of “We the People.”

The other side is for protecting basic human rights, private property, freedom of speech, the second amendment, smaller government, adherence to constitutional law, a closed border with legal entry, a strong military with a goal of peace through strength, a balanced budget, lower taxes, greater industrial independence, sensible laws that protect citizens, clean and safe communities, America first, a representative government, voter ID, and other protections of the right to vote.

Why a socialist- or communist-style government could appeal to nearly half the electorate of the United States is truly one of the greatest mysteries of all time. Electing a man to be president four years ago who was showing strong signs of dementia is also a mystery. That man has been replaced by Kamala to run for another term. Yet, even after being vice president for four years Kamala has no idea what’s going on—not because of dementia but because she’s mentally lazy or her IQ is way below average.

The answer to the misunderstanding of the two sides lies in what people are taught and how they are taught. I don’t know if common sense or critical thinking is heritable or not. But a growing number of Americans lack both skills. It has made them vulnerable to really crazy stuff. They don’t seem to understand history or even that it existed. Recent right-wing comments about unproven cloud seeding are a tinfoil hat example of what I’m talking about. Hurricanes that form in, or cross, the Gulf of Mexico do not need seeding to build strength. The warm waters of the Gulf have nearly a perfect record of causing hurricanes to gain strength.^{1 2}

Another crazy thing is for people who thought Kamala was a cackling mental lightweight to switch overnight into believing she’s one of the greatest statesmen in all of history—I guess they never listen to her.

The next 25 days before the election give Democrats about three weeks to come up with October surprises. Already they have used about every form of election interference to keep Trump from being elected. The Biden/Harris administration has become famous for their lawfare against their only opponent—starting before he won the primary. It seems that in the past two presidential elections the Democrats have pulled no punches in their quest for power. As long as they continue to lose on policies, they have no conscience when it comes to cheating. So I expect one or more surprises in the next few weeks.

As an aside I want to mention that in the past 30 days, the Federal deficit increased by $347 billion. That’s an annual DEFICIT PACE of $4.222 trillion, which is beyond the spending ability of drunken sailors! (On 10/9/24 the debt was $35.694 trillion. On 9/9/24 it was $35.347 trillion.) But nobody seems to notice. What’s interesting is the Republican House of Representatives okayed the spending—and the topic remains mostly totally obscured by the MSM. Will it be addressed or ignored? How will the stock market and economy respond to a slowdown in deficit spending of that magnitude?³

Is this spending gone totally wild going to be a “November surprise” if Trump wins?

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

1. Critical Thinking vs. Common Sense: The Differences by Sherryl Leiber from Think Better Academy

2. No, Hurricane Milton Was Not 'Engineered' by Mark Poynting and Marco Silva from BBC

3. Debt to the Penny from Fiscal Data Treasury.gov