Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – September 8, 2023

Greetings from Tyler,

It looks as though the war in Ukraine is going to go on and on.  U. S. tanks and munitions are being expended at an alarming rate.  It is said that the Ukrainian forces are short on munitions.  Is there no limit?  Are we replacing everything sent to Ukraine?  We’re not sure what we’re contributing to, but Putin is definitely bad.  So, I guess we should arm and fund a war in eastern Europe that’s taking a vast toll in human casualties.

It seems a little odd that Ukraine has emerged as a center of corruption, and there’s apparently nothing our government won’t do to extend the rule of Zelensky.  Maybe we’re missing something, but it’s hard to respect a guy who’s gone to nearly every country, putting a guilt trip on those who don’t cough up big money.  Meanwhile the dead and wounded, let’s just say it’s a bloodbath.  Zelensky has appointed a new Defense Minister.  He’s under investigation too.

Trump says he’d have the war ended in 24 hours, maybe 48 at the most.  He doesn’t say how.  It’s probably best that we don’t know.  But there are significant odds that he’ll never get the chance.  Moves are underway to disqualify him from having his name on ballots.  You can bet there will be legal fights to keep his name from appearing.  That is, unless they jail him in the meantime.  It has occurred to me that a trial may not be the best idea they ever had.  It might backfire in a big way.  A lot of things happened during the last election that didn’t get reported.  “What are you, a conspiracy theorist!?!”  Now that you mention it…

The Wall Street Journal says we’re in the middle of a commercial real estate meltdown.  Interest rates have risen, and these hi-rise buildings aren’t exactly full of tenants.  Have you seen downtown lately?  Downtown anywhere.  The big cities are teeming with criminals and homeless people.  Crime statistics are off the chart.  Have you seen what’s going on in California?  It used to be a paradise.  Now the “homeless” are welcome to pitch a tent and camp most anywhere.  

Big department stores that held anchor positions in San Francisco are closing down.  They can’t withstand the flash mobs and the incredible losses from shoplifting.  It no longer makes sense to operate a high-end department store in an area replete with crime.  Don’t the police respond when a flash mob starts ransacking a store and stealing everything they can carry?  They’re outnumbered.

We keep hearing that people are fleeing California to anywhere that’s sympathetic to citizens, as opposed to illegal aliens or gangs.  

New York City is about to have a meltdown over migrants they have to care for.  Have you seen the video?  Apparently they’ve run out of places where they can “care” for the illegals, so they’re going to sue Texas for sending them.  Much to my chagrin, only about 10% of the illegals plaguing New York City were sent from Texas, but that hasn’t stopped us getting the blame.  The Mayor came out and said that the crisis would “destroy this city.”  

Many have also gone elsewhere to live.  New York City was a scene out of a scary movie back in the ‘70’s.  It was bad, and crime was rampant.  Rudy Giuliani cleaned it up, and it’s been Disneyland ever since.  Until recently.  No one can deny that Rudy was instrumental in the former transformation of New York.  But he teamed up with Donald Trump, and now he’s crazy (to hear the mainstream news tell it).  “What happened to America’s Mayor?” they want to know.  

Anybody who allied themselves with Trump is in legal jeopardy.  They think they can prosecute everybody?  This might be a big mistake.

We used to trust the legal system, and in some places you still can.  But the federal agencies haven’t inspired much confidence lately.  It’s starting to look like they’ll do anything to keep one man from surviving.  We’ll see if they’ve done enough.  Otherwise, it’s whatever that look in the mugshot meant. 

Mark