Today's Ross Report
Joe O’Dea and his campaign team made an interesting calculation on Sunday: Joe went on CNN and said that not only would he prefer that Donald Trump not run for president; he would campaign against Trump in the primaries and try to help other Republicans put together a field of credible candidates like Ron DeSantis, Nicky Haley, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Donald Trump took notice and posted on his own social media platform a message that called O’Dea a RINO and saying that MAGA doesn’t vote for stupid people with big mouths. Well, they did vote for him, so obviously that last part is wrong. But anyway, it’s an interesting bet by team O’Dea: that they win more votes in the center by criticizing Trump than they lose on the right. I have no idea if it’s a good bet, but it’s definitely a bet.
Today's Guests
Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) is an orthopedist (medical doctor) and former president of the Wyoming Medical Society. He's chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and he joins the show to talk about US senate elections and his support for Joe O'Dea here in Colorado. John is on the Energy Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Foreign Relations Committee
United States Senator John Barrasso (senate.gov)
Home - Senate Republican Conference
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Marian Tupy—Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and co-author of the new book, Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet—shares a view with Elon Musk world more likely faces an “underpopulation” problem than an overpopulation problem. As the world population closes in on 8 billion, Marian challenges the notion that the world faces an overpopulation problem that threatens humans with resource scarcity. Analyzing the global time prices of resources (how long you must work to afford something), he found that the global time prices of resources “fell by 84 percent between 1960 and 2018. The personal resource abundance of the average inhabitant of the globe rose from 1 to 6.27 or 527 percent. Put differently, for the same time of work that he or she could buy one item in the basket of resources we looked at, he or she can now get more than six. Over that 58-year period, the world’s population increased from 3 billion to 7.6 billion.”
Does the World Face an Underpopulation Problem? (townhall.com)
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Bradley Beck (a friend of mine and fellow graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies) is running for Town of Erie Charter Commission on a platform of opposing Erie becoming a "Home Rule" municipality. You might wonder why a libertarian like Brad would take that position but wait until you hear what the people pushing for home rule are really trying to accomplish.
Erie Home Rule Charter Commission: Bradley Beck (yahoo.com)
The Roadmap to Home Rule | Engage Erie (erieco.us)
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Other Stuff
Kanye "Ye" West to buy social media platform Parler: Kanye West agrees to buy Parler, company says (cnbc.com)
Critical to note that West has been hanging out with Candace Owens (well-known black conservative and maker of a new documentary and wearer of Kanye's new "White Lives Matter" t-shirt) and that Candace's husband is CEO of Parler. I think a guy named Jared Holt got it right:(19) Jared Holt on Twitter: "Baffling that so many news stories about the acquisition are missing this context. This is why the news desk needs to talk to its beat reporters for these stories! The headline is that Owens used her friendship with Kanye to offload a dying platform. Not another celeb tech buy!"
I guess he was tired of being banned from social media platforms for his anti-Semitic rantings.
Ugh: Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to acquire Parler platform (prnewswire.com)
A month ago, Parler announced that it had raised $16 million in a Series B funding, bringing the total amount invested in it by whomever went into the deal to $56 million. I wonder if we'll ever find out how much Ye paid for the company. I bet it was way less than $56 million.
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Gotta give the Biden Administration credit for this. Interesting how little attention it's gotten in the news:
Biden gambles with global chip supply by halting US firms’ operations in China | Ars Technica
U.S. Scrambles to Prevent Export Curbs on China Chips From Disrupting Supply Chain (usnews.com)
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Interesting politics in the state to our west: Utah emerges as wild card in battle for the Senate | The Hill
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Well, that's one way to make your point, but it seems like a really gross/offensive/disgusting way.
US news: Congressional candidate posts sex tape featuring himself (unilad.com)
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For the first time, most Americans can buy a hearing aid without having to go to a doctor first: Over-the-counter hearing aids available in US for 1st time - ABC News (go.com)
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Infuriating: Pandemic aid goes toward guns, drugs
Criminal gangs sweep up billions by filing bogus unemployment claims
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Xi Jinping: China is willing to use force to take Taiwan: Xi willing to take ‘all measures necessary’ against ‘interference’ on Taiwan | Washington Examiner
US Secretary of State Tony Blinken says that China intends to take Taiwan on a "much faster timeline" than previously expected: Blinken warns China on ‘faster timeline’ to force Taiwan to submit to its demands for unification | Washington Examiner
TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHY CHINA MIGHT TRY TO MOVE FASTER THAN MANY HAVE BEEN THINKING, CHECK OUT THIS FASCINATING CONVERSATION ON THE HIDDEN FORCES PODCAST: Preparing for a Peaking China | Michael Beckley & Hal Brands (hiddenforces.io)
A very interesting report on the latest meeting of the Chinese Communist Party's 20th Party Congress and statements by Xi Jinping: https://sinocism.com/p/20th-party-congress-chinese-modernization
WSJ: The tension between Xi's political goals/approach and his economic goals: https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-economy-xi-jinping-ideology-11666016306?st=27igprfn3112tq9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
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WSJ: Price-Fixing Charges Against Chicken-Industry Executives Are Dismissed
Two former Pilgrim’s Pride staffers were the last defendants facing trial over an alleged conspiracy
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Axios: Americans are buying less at the supermarket Soaring food prices push Americans to buy less at the supermarket (axios.com)
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Google's "incognito mode" is not nearly as private as you think: Google workers joked that 'Incognito Mode' is 'not truly private' (nypost.com)
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Today's Videos
Heidi Ganahl consistently beats Jared Polis in debates, including at the most recent debate hosted by the CO Springs Gazette
A remarkable interview by Piers Morgan of John Hinckley, the man who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan