President Trump honored the military dog which
was injured in the raid that killed Islamic State
leader Abu bakr al-Baghdadi.
The dog, a Belgian Malinois named Conan, was
feted in a Rose Garden ceremony, which was
attended by First Lady Melania Trump and
Vice President Mike Pence. President Trump
met with the soldiers involved in the successful
raid and also gave Conan an award, calling the
heroic dog "so brilliant, so smart."
Conan was sent into a tunnel to subdue Baghdadi
in the raid on a compound in Syria where Baghdadi
was hiding with some of his family. Hiding behind
three of his children, Baghdadi detonated a suicide
vest, killing himself and the children as well as
collapsing part of the tunnel, which injured Conan.
The soldiers rescued Conan and got the dog to medical
staff who treated her, and having since recovered has
returned to active duty.
Some have criticized giving Conan all this adulation,
thinking it frivolous to so honor a dog. Your grateful
Peasant says that since we honor police dogs when
they perform heroic tasks in the field, especially
when they are wounded or killed, giving them
rewards such as medals, why not do the same
for our military canines? They share the daunting
work and the inherent dangers with their military
handlers, so why not show them our gratitude like
we do for our human soldiers, marines, and sailors?
They are even regarded as soldiers and such by the
branches in which they serve; what's all the fuss?
This story illustrates well the loyalty that the animal
called "Man's best friend" has for his humans in whose
charge they are placed. They, without questioning or
hesitation, do whatever they are asked by their handlers
no matter the danger, without regard for their own safety.
This is regarded as bravery, a necessary trait for those
serving in the military, a trait valued and given awards for.
Especially in showing courage above and beyond duty's
call. Why can't we so honor our military animals?
Hats off to President Trump for his honoring and giving
laud to Conan, the army dog who served so gallantly
in battle. And a special salute to Conan.
MEM
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Thursday, December 5, 2019
A New Democrat Presidential Candidate (Could He Pass a Saliva Test?)
Former New York mayor and billionaire media magnate
Michael Bloomberg has recently declared himself a
candidate for the office of President of the United States,
having mulled over the option for more than a year.
What he would bring to the Dem's race for the party's
laurels is that, unlike U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and
Elizabeth Warren he doesn't want to grab any of one's
monetary assets (a so-called "wealth tax"); and unlike
Beto O'Rourke does not want to grab anyone's guns, just
the sugary-sweet treats many people enjoy, the extra-ounces
"Big Gulp" soda pop drinks. Remember his edict to ban
the sale of large-size cups of soda in New York when he
was that city's mayor? He thought it would help improve
and enhance New Yorkers' health if they didn't ingest so
much sugar via their sweet fizzy drinks. Yes, I know,
nanny statism on tap care of "Nanny" Bloomberg.
At least he would leave people's investment and real
estate assets alone. By the by, Beto had to say bye-bye
when his already-floundering campaign was finally sunk
by his anti-gun scheme which turned off moderate
Democrats (there's still a few of them around, believe it
or not) and independents most likely to vote in the
Democrats' primaries and caucuses. Your bemused Peasant
can't think of how a pro-gun, pro-2nd Amendment state
like Texas could ever support such a candidate for president,
including one from their own state.
Bloomberg has other advantages as a candidate vis-a-vis
the rest of the Democrats' wacky field: Where Bloomberg
is coherent, clear, and smooth when he speaks, ex-Vice
President Joe Biden struggles to put a coherent sentence
together when he's on the stump, and "Uncle Joe" is
lumbered by Ukrainian baggage via his and his son Hunter's
ties to a Ukrainian energy holding firm, Burisma Holdings
and the growing scandal emanating from there. Sen. Elizabeth
Warren's ("I've got a plan for that!") plans for Medicare and
for the economy have even die-hard liberals in the Democrat
Party saying "Now just wait a minute, lady!". Sen. Bernie
Sanders, the far-left darling of the progressives four years
ago, recently had a heart attack while on the campaign trail,
causing many progs to reconsider their support of Bernie
in favor of the slightly younger Sen. Warren. Joe Biden
and his son, Hunter, are enmeshed in the Ukrainian
energy firm Burisma and its list of growing controversies,
along with the growing scandal emanating from there.
South Bend, Indiana's mayor Pete Buttigieg has at best
a mediocre record as that city's mayor, and many in his city
think he is willfully ignoring the plight of South Bend's
more run-down, racially diverse, economically depressed
neighborhoods. Sen. Kamala Harris, once well-regarded,
was shown to be the Empress With No Clothes after a fast
start with her campaign, only to be so exposed by some of
her rivals for the Dem's nomination as being woefully
unprepared. The rest of the field is just barely hanging in
there, and Bloomberg shouldn't have any trouble with
any of these tail-enders.
Being a highly successful businessman, and a billionaire
at that, would be a sore point with the many progressive
activists which dominate the Democrat Party, who hold
the vast wealth of such people against them (that's how
come ex-hedge fund manager and environmental gadfly
Tom Steyer never caught the breeze of momentum in
his sails, or should I say his windmills?), even if they hold
the same views as they on the issues of greatest concern
in their squalid party. Bloomberg will be best advised to
build a groundswell within the party to support him by
appealing to those Dems who think that their party has
gone too far leftward. There are some such Dems, enough
to make some noise along the road to their convention
in Milwaukee as well as at their bash. It could be rather
fun to watch.
But a word of caution to my fellow conservatives: whatever
qualms that you may have about President Trump, despite
his stellar performance in office, especially on the economy,
know that Michael Bloomberg is no conservative, nor even
a moderate; he merely looks like one of these next to the
Democrats' field of candidates. Bloomberg is, in fact,
a solidly staunch liberal who backs gun control (just short
of grabbing people's guns a' la Beto), abortion on demand,
and environmental regulations which would cripple some
industries and put at least one (coal) out of business.
Furthermore, Bloomberg LP, Bloomberg's media company,
announced through Bloomberg Editor in Chief John
Micklethwait "We will write about virtually all aspects
of this presidential contest," but "We will continue
our tradition of not investigating Mike (and his family
foundation) and we will extend the same policy to his
rivals in the Democratic primaries." Ah, but wait: said
in the same announcement they will "continue
to investigate the Trump administration, as the
government of the day." You see the ethical hole in the
road just ahead: What would happen if Bloomberg wins
the Democrats' nomination, and Trump the Republican's
blessing (and he is very likely to do so, as he has token
opposition who cannot possibly pose a serious challenge
for the GOP nod)? Micklethwait goes on to say that this
question will be reassessed if his boss is successful in
gaining the Democrats' nomination. Indeed.
Bloomberg's publication, while having a pro-market flavor
in its financial reporting, tacks left in its reporting on just
about everything else. What makes anyone think that this
would change, or at least be suspended in case of a Trump-
Bloomberg showdown next year? Especially given the
firm's passing on coverage of Bloomberg himself and
his fellow Democrat candidates? Very, very troubling,
and does not bode well for ethical journalism and its
proponents.
But all that being said, Bloomberg could still play a
role in educating people about the dangers of
so-called Medicare for All (which is really socialized
medicine by another name) the perniciousness of a
wealth tax, and the problems generated by raising the top
marginal tax rate to 70% (or more), and the dangers
to the middle class when the wealthy have been taxed to
the breaking point by a President Sanders or a President
Warren and they STILL would not have enough money
to pay for their socialist wet dream programs. And although
Bloomberg is 77, he is in markedly better health than
Sen. Sanders who recently suffered a heart attack while
campaigning, and Joe Biden who had bleeding in one eye
while giving a speech (a sign of dangerously high blood
pressure?); both of these men are in their 70s as well.
Personally, I don't see Michael Bloomberg winning the
Democrats' presidential nomination. But I do see him
making more than a few Democrat voters and, just
as importantly, more than a few Democrat delegates
in Milwaukee think long and hard about the issues and
the corresponding views held by the candidates.
And to compare them with those of Mayor Bloomberg's.
Could this trigger the return toward the political center
for the waywardly left-wing Democrat Party? This would
be an even more significant accomplishment for
Michael Bloomberg than winning that party's presidential
nomination, even winning the presidential election.
Bloomberg for spoiler, not for president.
MEM
Michael Bloomberg has recently declared himself a
candidate for the office of President of the United States,
having mulled over the option for more than a year.
What he would bring to the Dem's race for the party's
laurels is that, unlike U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and
Elizabeth Warren he doesn't want to grab any of one's
monetary assets (a so-called "wealth tax"); and unlike
Beto O'Rourke does not want to grab anyone's guns, just
the sugary-sweet treats many people enjoy, the extra-ounces
"Big Gulp" soda pop drinks. Remember his edict to ban
the sale of large-size cups of soda in New York when he
was that city's mayor? He thought it would help improve
and enhance New Yorkers' health if they didn't ingest so
much sugar via their sweet fizzy drinks. Yes, I know,
nanny statism on tap care of "Nanny" Bloomberg.
At least he would leave people's investment and real
estate assets alone. By the by, Beto had to say bye-bye
when his already-floundering campaign was finally sunk
by his anti-gun scheme which turned off moderate
Democrats (there's still a few of them around, believe it
or not) and independents most likely to vote in the
Democrats' primaries and caucuses. Your bemused Peasant
can't think of how a pro-gun, pro-2nd Amendment state
like Texas could ever support such a candidate for president,
including one from their own state.
Bloomberg has other advantages as a candidate vis-a-vis
the rest of the Democrats' wacky field: Where Bloomberg
is coherent, clear, and smooth when he speaks, ex-Vice
President Joe Biden struggles to put a coherent sentence
together when he's on the stump, and "Uncle Joe" is
lumbered by Ukrainian baggage via his and his son Hunter's
ties to a Ukrainian energy holding firm, Burisma Holdings
and the growing scandal emanating from there. Sen. Elizabeth
Warren's ("I've got a plan for that!") plans for Medicare and
for the economy have even die-hard liberals in the Democrat
Party saying "Now just wait a minute, lady!". Sen. Bernie
Sanders, the far-left darling of the progressives four years
ago, recently had a heart attack while on the campaign trail,
causing many progs to reconsider their support of Bernie
in favor of the slightly younger Sen. Warren. Joe Biden
and his son, Hunter, are enmeshed in the Ukrainian
energy firm Burisma and its list of growing controversies,
along with the growing scandal emanating from there.
South Bend, Indiana's mayor Pete Buttigieg has at best
a mediocre record as that city's mayor, and many in his city
think he is willfully ignoring the plight of South Bend's
more run-down, racially diverse, economically depressed
neighborhoods. Sen. Kamala Harris, once well-regarded,
was shown to be the Empress With No Clothes after a fast
start with her campaign, only to be so exposed by some of
her rivals for the Dem's nomination as being woefully
unprepared. The rest of the field is just barely hanging in
there, and Bloomberg shouldn't have any trouble with
any of these tail-enders.
Being a highly successful businessman, and a billionaire
at that, would be a sore point with the many progressive
activists which dominate the Democrat Party, who hold
the vast wealth of such people against them (that's how
come ex-hedge fund manager and environmental gadfly
Tom Steyer never caught the breeze of momentum in
his sails, or should I say his windmills?), even if they hold
the same views as they on the issues of greatest concern
in their squalid party. Bloomberg will be best advised to
build a groundswell within the party to support him by
appealing to those Dems who think that their party has
gone too far leftward. There are some such Dems, enough
to make some noise along the road to their convention
in Milwaukee as well as at their bash. It could be rather
fun to watch.
But a word of caution to my fellow conservatives: whatever
qualms that you may have about President Trump, despite
his stellar performance in office, especially on the economy,
know that Michael Bloomberg is no conservative, nor even
a moderate; he merely looks like one of these next to the
Democrats' field of candidates. Bloomberg is, in fact,
a solidly staunch liberal who backs gun control (just short
of grabbing people's guns a' la Beto), abortion on demand,
and environmental regulations which would cripple some
industries and put at least one (coal) out of business.
Furthermore, Bloomberg LP, Bloomberg's media company,
announced through Bloomberg Editor in Chief John
Micklethwait "We will write about virtually all aspects
of this presidential contest," but "We will continue
our tradition of not investigating Mike (and his family
foundation) and we will extend the same policy to his
rivals in the Democratic primaries." Ah, but wait: said
in the same announcement they will "continue
to investigate the Trump administration, as the
government of the day." You see the ethical hole in the
road just ahead: What would happen if Bloomberg wins
the Democrats' nomination, and Trump the Republican's
blessing (and he is very likely to do so, as he has token
opposition who cannot possibly pose a serious challenge
for the GOP nod)? Micklethwait goes on to say that this
question will be reassessed if his boss is successful in
gaining the Democrats' nomination. Indeed.
Bloomberg's publication, while having a pro-market flavor
in its financial reporting, tacks left in its reporting on just
about everything else. What makes anyone think that this
would change, or at least be suspended in case of a Trump-
Bloomberg showdown next year? Especially given the
firm's passing on coverage of Bloomberg himself and
his fellow Democrat candidates? Very, very troubling,
and does not bode well for ethical journalism and its
proponents.
But all that being said, Bloomberg could still play a
role in educating people about the dangers of
so-called Medicare for All (which is really socialized
medicine by another name) the perniciousness of a
wealth tax, and the problems generated by raising the top
marginal tax rate to 70% (or more), and the dangers
to the middle class when the wealthy have been taxed to
the breaking point by a President Sanders or a President
Warren and they STILL would not have enough money
to pay for their socialist wet dream programs. And although
Bloomberg is 77, he is in markedly better health than
Sen. Sanders who recently suffered a heart attack while
campaigning, and Joe Biden who had bleeding in one eye
while giving a speech (a sign of dangerously high blood
pressure?); both of these men are in their 70s as well.
Personally, I don't see Michael Bloomberg winning the
Democrats' presidential nomination. But I do see him
making more than a few Democrat voters and, just
as importantly, more than a few Democrat delegates
in Milwaukee think long and hard about the issues and
the corresponding views held by the candidates.
And to compare them with those of Mayor Bloomberg's.
Could this trigger the return toward the political center
for the waywardly left-wing Democrat Party? This would
be an even more significant accomplishment for
Michael Bloomberg than winning that party's presidential
nomination, even winning the presidential election.
Bloomberg for spoiler, not for president.
MEM
Thursday, November 14, 2019
The Peasant Begins His Thanksgiving Vacation
Friends, your overworked Peasant is taking a few weeks off
to celebrate Thanksgiving and to recharge my batteries. I am in
the middle of writing some wonderful posts to share with you, my
wonderful and loyal readers, and am setting up my apartment to
host small (but fun-filled) parties and song circle sessions for our
Chuck Ward Celtic Song Circle. Add to that my becoming a foster
parent for another at-risk cat, a lovely little girl cat named Brownie.
Furthermore, I shall be participating in the inaugural meeting of
the Conservatives and Republicans of Greater Milwaukee on
Saturday, November 16. I was invited by my friend and fellow
activist, Thomas Brian, with whom I showed up to protest the
debut of the Milwaukee Streetcar, a/k/a the "Trommy", a/k/a
"(Mayor Thomas) Barrett's Folly", which I posted about at the
time last autumn. I shall share with you about the gathering,
which is to be held at Aliotto's Restaurant in Wauwatosa.
If any of you would like to come, it will be on from 3:00 to
6:00 PM at Alioto's, 3401 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, WI.
For those who might not be able to make it, especially those
of you who live outside of the Milwaukee area and maybe
outside of Wisconsin, you are welcome to send donations
to this fledgling conservative group at:
C.R.G.M.
P.O. Box 14801
West Allis, WI 53214
We will be taking on the Democrats and other liberals across
many political subjects, especially their legislative initiatives
at the state and local levels. I am jazzed about this new bunch!
And I shall be busy with some home improvement projects as well.
No rest for The Peasant, but I shall lighten my load to a reasonable
and manageable one. After which I shall return to you, my great
and good friends! In the meantime, have a Happy Thanksgiving
with your families and friends, and let us all be thankful that we
live in the United States of America --- where we have freedom,
prosperity, and abundance!
God bless you all! And God bless America!
MEM
to celebrate Thanksgiving and to recharge my batteries. I am in
the middle of writing some wonderful posts to share with you, my
wonderful and loyal readers, and am setting up my apartment to
host small (but fun-filled) parties and song circle sessions for our
Chuck Ward Celtic Song Circle. Add to that my becoming a foster
parent for another at-risk cat, a lovely little girl cat named Brownie.
Furthermore, I shall be participating in the inaugural meeting of
the Conservatives and Republicans of Greater Milwaukee on
Saturday, November 16. I was invited by my friend and fellow
activist, Thomas Brian, with whom I showed up to protest the
debut of the Milwaukee Streetcar, a/k/a the "Trommy", a/k/a
"(Mayor Thomas) Barrett's Folly", which I posted about at the
time last autumn. I shall share with you about the gathering,
which is to be held at Aliotto's Restaurant in Wauwatosa.
If any of you would like to come, it will be on from 3:00 to
6:00 PM at Alioto's, 3401 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, WI.
For those who might not be able to make it, especially those
of you who live outside of the Milwaukee area and maybe
outside of Wisconsin, you are welcome to send donations
to this fledgling conservative group at:
C.R.G.M.
P.O. Box 14801
West Allis, WI 53214
We will be taking on the Democrats and other liberals across
many political subjects, especially their legislative initiatives
at the state and local levels. I am jazzed about this new bunch!
And I shall be busy with some home improvement projects as well.
No rest for The Peasant, but I shall lighten my load to a reasonable
and manageable one. After which I shall return to you, my great
and good friends! In the meantime, have a Happy Thanksgiving
with your families and friends, and let us all be thankful that we
live in the United States of America --- where we have freedom,
prosperity, and abundance!
God bless you all! And God bless America!
MEM
Monday, November 11, 2019
Gratitude to our Vets!
As today, my fabulous readers, is Veterans Day,
take the time to let the vets in your lives know
that you are grateful for their service and sacrifice.
Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, siblings,
cousins, friends, neighbors, co-workers, vets
in their uniforms marching in Veterans Day
parades, shake their hands and tell them you're
thankful to them for service to our country.
As a matter of fact, this is something we all can,
and should do, every day --- not just this special
day, fitting though it be.
Remember: if you like your freedom, thank a vet!
It's certainly nor the politicians who are in uniform,
carrying guns and packs, engaging enemy forces
in battle in far-flung parts of the world that most
Americans have never heard of, oftentimes battling
severe weather along with the enemies, having to kill
or be killed, facing privations, fighting to stop our
enemies before they can get anywhere near our borders
and shores.
God bless our veterans, and God bless America!
MEM
take the time to let the vets in your lives know
that you are grateful for their service and sacrifice.
Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, siblings,
cousins, friends, neighbors, co-workers, vets
in their uniforms marching in Veterans Day
parades, shake their hands and tell them you're
thankful to them for service to our country.
As a matter of fact, this is something we all can,
and should do, every day --- not just this special
day, fitting though it be.
Remember: if you like your freedom, thank a vet!
It's certainly nor the politicians who are in uniform,
carrying guns and packs, engaging enemy forces
in battle in far-flung parts of the world that most
Americans have never heard of, oftentimes battling
severe weather along with the enemies, having to kill
or be killed, facing privations, fighting to stop our
enemies before they can get anywhere near our borders
and shores.
God bless our veterans, and God bless America!
MEM
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Abdul Kayoum, R.I.P.
This gentleman may not be well known to some of you,
my wonderful readers, and will not be known at all to
the rest of you. But his life is a testament to the oppor-
tunities and the freedom to pursue them that our wonder-
ful country affords to immigrants from all around the
world, even making possible for who occupied the highest
strata in their native countries to rise even higher.
Abdul Kayoum, 84, Afghan prince-turned immigrant-turned
U.S. entrepreneur, champion of conservative political and
economic principles, recently passed from this world.
A second cousin to the last king of Afghanistan, Mohammad
Zahir Shah and known as "Abe" to his family and closest
friends, Abdul Kayoum's unique and inspiring life began
in the royal household in Afghanistan where he
learned the recipes of the exquisite entrees prepared by
the chefs in the royal kitchen which he would later
recreate for the patrons of his Afghani restaurant,
the Caravan Serai, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Abe
perfected his cooking skills, also adding American
favorites as well as favorites from around the Middle
East and southern Europe while working in restaurants
in several states after arriving on our shores. Along the way
he met and married a delightful beauty from North Dakota,
Carol, with whom they would make their family and later
their family enterprise, their Serai (Afghani for "inn")
which was the first Afghani restaurant in the United States.
Here was where your culinary adventurer Peasant met Abe
and his family.
As a student at the nearby University of Saint Thomas
drawing close to graduation, I became a regular patron
myself, and was befriended by the Kayoum family.
Shortly after graduation Abe offered me a position
as host, working both lunch and dinner hours and
holding some supervisory duties --- and offered
endless free food with all the spices and aromas
of the exotic dishes once made for royalty, now
given to a Peasant! I felt as if I had died and gone
to heaven's kitchen to spend eternity dining on the
astonishingly delicious exotic entrees from Abe's
part of the world!
Over time I worked off and on at the Serai, sometimes
working there part-time while working a regular full-
time job in my career field to help Abe and later his
eldest daughter Nancy to bridge gaps in personnel in
especially busy times. I had many conversations with
Abe about the restaurant business, business in general,
politics (we both lauded President Ronald Reagan and
his policies of limited government, lower taxes,
a stronger military, and the reaffirmation of our
commitments to our allies), and life. We also talked
about everyday stuff going on in our lives. Whenever
I brought a date, a family member, or a friend to dine
at the Serai I would make sure that Abe would be on
duty that evening so I could introduce them to each
other. Abe was one of the most charming people I
ever had the pleasure to have known, so much so
that he even made staunch liberals at ease when
they would come for a meal and sometimes talk
politics. Abe could disagree without being disagree-
able, and with the times then being less confrontational
the lefty guests did the same, and they would even form
lasting friendships which had the liberals come to
the Serai regularly. At least one Saint Paul mayor,
several city council members, an occasional member
of the nearby state legislature, people from both
major political parties were seen coming dining in
the Abe's wonderful and wondrous restaurant over
the years. Partisanship was checked at the Caravan
Serai's door, and great food shared by and among great
company was the order of the day.
After many years at the helm of the Serai Abe got the
itch to try new entrepreneurial endeavors; he sold his
interest in the restaurant to Nancy, got licenses to sell
real estate and insurance, and enjoyed further success
in both fields. Nancy, being the epitome of "like father,
like daughter", began a side business as a caterer.
Her catering business did so well that it became more
profitable than the Serai, so she closed the restaurant
and operated her catering business full-time for over
a decade before selling that and trying her hand at
other things, those sadly I do not know about for we
had lost contact with each other over time. Abe died
last summer, and I learned of his passing just this
week (!). Although I didn't get the opportunity to
pay my last respects by attending his funeral, I am
now doing so in writing and posting this tribute to
my dear friend, a royal from another land who rose
even higher in coming to America and creating a
wildly successful career and life for himself.
Abe, you are an example of what the American
promise of opportunity and becoming more than
one could ever dare conceive of becoming is all
about! And you did it while maintaining your humility,
my wonderful readers, and will not be known at all to
the rest of you. But his life is a testament to the oppor-
tunities and the freedom to pursue them that our wonder-
ful country affords to immigrants from all around the
world, even making possible for who occupied the highest
strata in their native countries to rise even higher.
Abdul Kayoum, 84, Afghan prince-turned immigrant-turned
U.S. entrepreneur, champion of conservative political and
economic principles, recently passed from this world.
A second cousin to the last king of Afghanistan, Mohammad
Zahir Shah and known as "Abe" to his family and closest
friends, Abdul Kayoum's unique and inspiring life began
in the royal household in Afghanistan where he
learned the recipes of the exquisite entrees prepared by
the chefs in the royal kitchen which he would later
recreate for the patrons of his Afghani restaurant,
the Caravan Serai, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Abe
perfected his cooking skills, also adding American
favorites as well as favorites from around the Middle
East and southern Europe while working in restaurants
in several states after arriving on our shores. Along the way
he met and married a delightful beauty from North Dakota,
Carol, with whom they would make their family and later
their family enterprise, their Serai (Afghani for "inn")
which was the first Afghani restaurant in the United States.
Here was where your culinary adventurer Peasant met Abe
and his family.
As a student at the nearby University of Saint Thomas
drawing close to graduation, I became a regular patron
myself, and was befriended by the Kayoum family.
Shortly after graduation Abe offered me a position
as host, working both lunch and dinner hours and
holding some supervisory duties --- and offered
endless free food with all the spices and aromas
of the exotic dishes once made for royalty, now
given to a Peasant! I felt as if I had died and gone
to heaven's kitchen to spend eternity dining on the
astonishingly delicious exotic entrees from Abe's
part of the world!
Over time I worked off and on at the Serai, sometimes
working there part-time while working a regular full-
time job in my career field to help Abe and later his
eldest daughter Nancy to bridge gaps in personnel in
especially busy times. I had many conversations with
Abe about the restaurant business, business in general,
politics (we both lauded President Ronald Reagan and
his policies of limited government, lower taxes,
a stronger military, and the reaffirmation of our
commitments to our allies), and life. We also talked
about everyday stuff going on in our lives. Whenever
I brought a date, a family member, or a friend to dine
at the Serai I would make sure that Abe would be on
duty that evening so I could introduce them to each
other. Abe was one of the most charming people I
ever had the pleasure to have known, so much so
that he even made staunch liberals at ease when
they would come for a meal and sometimes talk
politics. Abe could disagree without being disagree-
able, and with the times then being less confrontational
the lefty guests did the same, and they would even form
lasting friendships which had the liberals come to
the Serai regularly. At least one Saint Paul mayor,
several city council members, an occasional member
of the nearby state legislature, people from both
major political parties were seen coming dining in
the Abe's wonderful and wondrous restaurant over
the years. Partisanship was checked at the Caravan
Serai's door, and great food shared by and among great
company was the order of the day.
After many years at the helm of the Serai Abe got the
itch to try new entrepreneurial endeavors; he sold his
interest in the restaurant to Nancy, got licenses to sell
real estate and insurance, and enjoyed further success
in both fields. Nancy, being the epitome of "like father,
like daughter", began a side business as a caterer.
Her catering business did so well that it became more
profitable than the Serai, so she closed the restaurant
and operated her catering business full-time for over
a decade before selling that and trying her hand at
other things, those sadly I do not know about for we
had lost contact with each other over time. Abe died
last summer, and I learned of his passing just this
week (!). Although I didn't get the opportunity to
pay my last respects by attending his funeral, I am
now doing so in writing and posting this tribute to
my dear friend, a royal from another land who rose
even higher in coming to America and creating a
wildly successful career and life for himself.
Abe, you are an example of what the American
promise of opportunity and becoming more than
one could ever dare conceive of becoming is all
about! And you did it while maintaining your humility,
love of people and your desire to be of service
to them by cooking indescribably delicious delicacies
of your home country and the surrounding region
while passing on the beauty and the history of your
native Afghanistan, may someday she will once again
find peace and begin healing and repair of her cities,
her society, and her soul after years of war and attendant
turmoil. And I know that you are currently enjoying that
truly perfect peace which only heaven can provide.
Until it's my turn to answer the invitation to partake of
our Lord's heavenly hospitality, I close my tribute to you
with not a farewell but "until we meet again". Thank you
for being a huge part of my life! Requiescat in pace.
MEM
to them by cooking indescribably delicious delicacies
of your home country and the surrounding region
while passing on the beauty and the history of your
native Afghanistan, may someday she will once again
find peace and begin healing and repair of her cities,
her society, and her soul after years of war and attendant
turmoil. And I know that you are currently enjoying that
truly perfect peace which only heaven can provide.
Until it's my turn to answer the invitation to partake of
our Lord's heavenly hospitality, I close my tribute to you
with not a farewell but "until we meet again". Thank you
for being a huge part of my life! Requiescat in pace.
MEM
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Halloween Greetings!
Your pal The Peasant wishes you, my grand and wonderful readers
a wonderful and fun-filled Halloween! Here's an idea for making
the occasion even more spook-tacular:
Go trick-or-treating wearing a business suit, highly-polished shoes,
and a Donald Trump mask! If you feel that you are a bit long in the
tooth for it, those of you with young children, grandchildren,
nieces and/or nephews (you can do this with the kids of friends too!),
can go trick-or-treating together! Go out in your neighborhoods,
or --- if you all are feeling especially gutsy --- go out in a heavily-
Democratic neighborhood! A nice touch would be some MAGA caps.
Oh, if you are going to do this in a Dem community, it may be more
prudent to wear some good running shoes. But hey, it's Halloween,
and there's nothing like using the day to get up the noses of the
lefties for a great Halloween trick!
Anyway, whatever your planned Halloween activities, may you have
a ball! We'll get together again in the coming week!
MEM
a wonderful and fun-filled Halloween! Here's an idea for making
the occasion even more spook-tacular:
Go trick-or-treating wearing a business suit, highly-polished shoes,
and a Donald Trump mask! If you feel that you are a bit long in the
tooth for it, those of you with young children, grandchildren,
nieces and/or nephews (you can do this with the kids of friends too!),
can go trick-or-treating together! Go out in your neighborhoods,
or --- if you all are feeling especially gutsy --- go out in a heavily-
Democratic neighborhood! A nice touch would be some MAGA caps.
Oh, if you are going to do this in a Dem community, it may be more
prudent to wear some good running shoes. But hey, it's Halloween,
and there's nothing like using the day to get up the noses of the
lefties for a great Halloween trick!
Anyway, whatever your planned Halloween activities, may you have
a ball! We'll get together again in the coming week!
MEM
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Economic Folly, California Style
In recent years, a state once famously lauded for
being a place of undreamed of prosperity not only
throughout the United States but in many other
countries, resulting in many people moving to
California from these places, has done a shocking
180 degree turn through raising existing taxes
through the ceiling and creating a truckload of
new taxes, all to the pain of individual and corporate
taxpayers. The cure for the pain felt by both has been
to pack up and leave California for places where
prosperity is not punished but rather is encouraged.
Liberals, both in and outside of California have
claimed that taxpayer migration is not a result of
the increases in the quantity and the rates of taxation
there, nor is it at all harmful (?!) to state tax revenue.
They also seem to think that the hard-earned money
of well-to-do Californians would be better used by
the state government in terms of doing more
economic good for everyone there, a common
delusion among left-wingers. Some even think that
California should take a page from far left-wing
Democrat candidates for the presidency, Senators
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and also go
after the assets of the wealthier people of that
state (assets such as investment portfolios, bank
accounts, etc.).
However, Stanford economists Joshua Rauh and
Ryan Shyu studied how upper-tax bracket income
earners responded to a 2012 referendum,
Proposition 30, wholeheartedly supported by Democrats
that raised the top marginal rate on California taxpayers
with over $1 million in income to 13.3% from 10.3%.
Additionally, the top rates of individuals earning over
$250,000 also increased between one and two percentage
points. The Stanford study discovered the inevitable
result; a sizeable uptick in the rate of departure by
taxpayers with $5+ million in income following the
Prop. 30 tax increases, and a similar outflow for earners
in the brackets between $2 million and $5 million.
Recently reported on by the Wall Street Journal,
the point that all this makes is that the likelihood of
a wealthy resident of California moving out of state
increased by approximately 40% after Prop. 30. And
after the recent federal tax reform which has rendered
state and local taxes no longer 100% deductible, the
bite of the increased tax burden has been more fully felt
by California's wealthier residents, resulting in an
increased incentive to move to a lower-tax locale.
Other consequences of the Prop. 30 tax hikes revealed
by the study include high earners responding to them
by, among various strategies for reducing their tax bills,
simply working less, that is to say, reducing billable hours.
Some other big earners deferred compensation.
In short, the study estimates that migration out of California
along with taxpayer behavioral responses have taken away
45.2% of the expected revenue gains California was counting
on from the dramatic tax increase on top earning taxpayers.
This shoots a huge hole in the longtime argument of liberal
economists that the wealthy don't care about marginal tax
rates and increasing the top income tax rate to 70% will
neither affect revenues nor incentives to work. Moreover,
America's wealthy have cared greatly about marginal tax
rates for decades, at least since the 1940s when they simply
stopped paying the higher taxes on their earnings which
were just beyond the top marginal tax line and the federal
government, in the middle of fighting a war and later
trying to return the country to and maintain a peacetime
footing, merely gave these folks and their businesses
a wink and a nod. Uncle Sam knew that the economy
would have been thrown into some instability if he were
to have gone after the biggest individual and corporate
earners to shake loose some much-needed revenue with
aggressive tax collecting methods employed by the IRS
and instead let these parties be. This resulted in further
expansion of investing in and expanding businesses,
especially those which made and supplied important
materiel for the war effort, and later Apparently California's
state government hasn't learned anything from our
economic history, if ever it bothered to make the effort;
hence, California's severe economic woes. The top
marginal tax rate in the 1940s? 94%. Throughout the
1950s, '60s and '70s this rate settled back to no lower
than 70%.
In light of this remarkably revealing study, the Democrat
regime in Sacramento should reconsider their eagerness
to further plunder the earnings of their state's biggest income
earners. For one thing, whenever the next recession arrives
these Dems will have to tap into the middle class even more
than they presently do just to pay the tab for all of their
big spending dream programs they have created in the present
boom times once the state's economy goes from boom to
KA-BOOM! And still more wealthy California residents
will flee to states with lower or no income taxes.
But does anyone really think that California's Dem governor
and legislature will heed any of these warnings inherent in
the analysis of economists Rauh and Shyu? As we, my grand
readers, visit here today California's ruling Democrats are
campaigning hard to get a referendum in 2020 to remove
their state's constitutional tax cap on commercial property.
If it is accepted by the state's electorate then Californians
can kiss their private sector jobs goodbye, for businesses
will pack and move just as high income earners currently are,
packing up and taking Californians' jobs with them.
Let's see how that state's Democrat rulers deal with a bankrupt
ghost town of a state. California we have gone, back to where we
started from, la la la, la la la, la la la la, ...
MEM
being a place of undreamed of prosperity not only
throughout the United States but in many other
countries, resulting in many people moving to
California from these places, has done a shocking
180 degree turn through raising existing taxes
through the ceiling and creating a truckload of
new taxes, all to the pain of individual and corporate
taxpayers. The cure for the pain felt by both has been
to pack up and leave California for places where
prosperity is not punished but rather is encouraged.
Liberals, both in and outside of California have
claimed that taxpayer migration is not a result of
the increases in the quantity and the rates of taxation
there, nor is it at all harmful (?!) to state tax revenue.
They also seem to think that the hard-earned money
of well-to-do Californians would be better used by
the state government in terms of doing more
economic good for everyone there, a common
delusion among left-wingers. Some even think that
California should take a page from far left-wing
Democrat candidates for the presidency, Senators
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and also go
after the assets of the wealthier people of that
state (assets such as investment portfolios, bank
accounts, etc.).
However, Stanford economists Joshua Rauh and
Ryan Shyu studied how upper-tax bracket income
earners responded to a 2012 referendum,
Proposition 30, wholeheartedly supported by Democrats
that raised the top marginal rate on California taxpayers
with over $1 million in income to 13.3% from 10.3%.
Additionally, the top rates of individuals earning over
$250,000 also increased between one and two percentage
points. The Stanford study discovered the inevitable
result; a sizeable uptick in the rate of departure by
taxpayers with $5+ million in income following the
Prop. 30 tax increases, and a similar outflow for earners
in the brackets between $2 million and $5 million.
Recently reported on by the Wall Street Journal,
the point that all this makes is that the likelihood of
a wealthy resident of California moving out of state
increased by approximately 40% after Prop. 30. And
after the recent federal tax reform which has rendered
state and local taxes no longer 100% deductible, the
bite of the increased tax burden has been more fully felt
by California's wealthier residents, resulting in an
increased incentive to move to a lower-tax locale.
Other consequences of the Prop. 30 tax hikes revealed
by the study include high earners responding to them
by, among various strategies for reducing their tax bills,
simply working less, that is to say, reducing billable hours.
Some other big earners deferred compensation.
In short, the study estimates that migration out of California
along with taxpayer behavioral responses have taken away
45.2% of the expected revenue gains California was counting
on from the dramatic tax increase on top earning taxpayers.
This shoots a huge hole in the longtime argument of liberal
economists that the wealthy don't care about marginal tax
rates and increasing the top income tax rate to 70% will
neither affect revenues nor incentives to work. Moreover,
America's wealthy have cared greatly about marginal tax
rates for decades, at least since the 1940s when they simply
stopped paying the higher taxes on their earnings which
were just beyond the top marginal tax line and the federal
government, in the middle of fighting a war and later
trying to return the country to and maintain a peacetime
footing, merely gave these folks and their businesses
a wink and a nod. Uncle Sam knew that the economy
would have been thrown into some instability if he were
to have gone after the biggest individual and corporate
earners to shake loose some much-needed revenue with
aggressive tax collecting methods employed by the IRS
and instead let these parties be. This resulted in further
expansion of investing in and expanding businesses,
especially those which made and supplied important
materiel for the war effort, and later Apparently California's
state government hasn't learned anything from our
economic history, if ever it bothered to make the effort;
hence, California's severe economic woes. The top
marginal tax rate in the 1940s? 94%. Throughout the
1950s, '60s and '70s this rate settled back to no lower
than 70%.
In light of this remarkably revealing study, the Democrat
regime in Sacramento should reconsider their eagerness
to further plunder the earnings of their state's biggest income
earners. For one thing, whenever the next recession arrives
these Dems will have to tap into the middle class even more
than they presently do just to pay the tab for all of their
big spending dream programs they have created in the present
boom times once the state's economy goes from boom to
KA-BOOM! And still more wealthy California residents
will flee to states with lower or no income taxes.
But does anyone really think that California's Dem governor
and legislature will heed any of these warnings inherent in
the analysis of economists Rauh and Shyu? As we, my grand
readers, visit here today California's ruling Democrats are
campaigning hard to get a referendum in 2020 to remove
their state's constitutional tax cap on commercial property.
If it is accepted by the state's electorate then Californians
can kiss their private sector jobs goodbye, for businesses
will pack and move just as high income earners currently are,
packing up and taking Californians' jobs with them.
Let's see how that state's Democrat rulers deal with a bankrupt
ghost town of a state. California we have gone, back to where we
started from, la la la, la la la, la la la la, ...
MEM
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