Trump has once again gone against his intelligence team.  He said they were naive after Dan Coats said everything opposite of Trump regarding North Korea, Iran, ISIS and the southern border.  Is there anyone out there who believes that Trump is right and the intelligence community is wrong on all of these situations?  I thought Bush was out of his mind when he went into Iraq instead of finishing the job in Afghanistan.  Now Trump thinks that people coming into the country to take jobs that Americans don't want is more dangerous than ISIS and North Korea?

Thirteen year old Alysa Liu won the U.S. women figure skating championship this past week.  Problem is, she can't represent the U.S. in the world championships because she is under the minimum age of 15. 

I had complained about these type of arbitrary age requirements before.  In the Beijing Olympics it was widely believed that some of the Chinese women gymnasts were under age.  I believed that they did skirt the rules.  But those rules are stupid and I believe they are racist.  Asians tend to mature at a younger age, reaching their full height earlier on average than Westerners.  I believe that this is the reason for the age requirement since western nations, particularly Europeans, dominate the federations of figure skating and gymnastics.

It is not about protecting kids, as the sports governing bodies say.  If that is the case, then they should not have junior championships where they do the same moves.  In most cases, the older athletes are able to do difficult moves better than young ones.  But they are doing the same flip, jumps etc.  The younger ones are not being injured more than the older ones.If someone younger can do better, then she should be the world champion regardless of age.  Generally it is not an advantage to be younger.  For example, Shawn Johnson was not better at 14 than 16.

The U.S. had gone along with the Europeans in the past in setting the age requirement.  But Alysa Liu is not the first American affected by this rule.  In 2008, Mirai Nagasu won the U.S. championship but was not allowed to compete in the World championships.  She was never as good as she was in 2008 even though she competed at the Olympics last year.  I think the U.S., with more Asian ethnic athletes than other Western nations, should try to get the rule changed.

I see that the Clemson football team visited the White House and was served various fast food by Trump.  Apparently due to the government shutdown, the White House staff was short and couldn't provide food.  So Trump paid for the fast food out of his own pocket.  In the process, he blamed the Democrats for the shutdown.  People were quick to criticize and make fun of Trump for this low class food affair.  I am not going to do that, it is really too easy.

I am wondering why Chick-Fil-A wasn't on the menu?  It is a fast food chain that is known to support conservative causes.  So it would seem that Trump would want to support this chain.  I mean, how can you not feel for an executive who is anti-gay with a name like Dan Cathy?  I wonder what it does to a man who is constantly called Cathy everyday?  Of course, I think that former MLB pitcher Ron Darling was not bothered by men calling him Darling everyday!

Bit I digress.  It seems that Trump doesn't always help his supporters.  Take the farmers group he is speaking to in New Orleans.  With his trade war with China, the farmers are hurting.  He then tried to decrease the pain by giving subsidies and loans to farmers.  But then with the government shutdown, the farmers are not receiving their subsidies and can' apply for the loans.  Also since farming requires a lot of immigrant help, his stance on immigrants are also hurting farmers.  But why would anyone thinks that a real estate guy who had a rich father would actually be sympathetic to the plights of the American farmers?

There are a lot of arguments over whether the Congress should subpoena the interpreter whose notes were snatched by Trump after a one on one meeting between Trump and Putin.  Trump didn't want any of his aids to go into the meeting with Putin.  Afterward, he took away the interpreter's notes so there will never be any record of what was said.  Some called for the interpreter to testify.  Others think that while Trump was setting a bad precedent by taking the notes, it would also be bad precedent to have the interpreter testify.  Like priests and lawyers, interpreters for president should not have to testify of what was said.  Plus, it is possible the interpreter may not remember clearly what was said at the time.

But I would argue that even if the contents of the meeting should not be divulged by the interpreter, he/she  should testify if Trump actually took the notes.  I think the people have the right to know of this unusual event took place.  Why would a president do that if he had nothing to hide.  If the interpreter can testify that the president indeed did that, I think it would be another sign that Trump is beholden to the Russians.

Trump has backed himself into a corner and he came out swinging last night with the usual lies.  He doesn't care how many people he hurts by the shutdown.  He only wants to placate his base and hopes that other Americans, if they heard enough of the lies, will actually believe him.

I thought the buck is supposed to stop at the president.  Trump said as much before the shutdown when he was seen on television telling the Democrats and the nation that he will take responsibility for a shutdown.  Last night he passed the buck by saying it was the Democrats who are responsible.  Of course he had the chance to avoid the shutdown completely if he had just signed the bill that had passed both the Senate and the House with bipartisan support before the shutdown.  In fact, the Senate passed it with the assurance that Trump would sign.  He changed his mind after people like Limbaugh and Coulter complained.  I didn't know the people elected those two to be president!

Trump said we have an emergency at the border.  Illegal crossing has dropped by half in recent years.  He claimed that terrorists are streaming across the border.  There has been no terrorists coming through the border with Mexico that the government has revealed.  None of the terrorists who have harmed us has come over from Mexico.  If there is a crisis at the border it is that Trump has slowed the processing of asylum seekers.  As a result the detention centers are overwhelmed.  With the shutdown, this crisis will get worse.  So Trump is actually the one who is creating a crisis.

Trump also blamed the southern border for the opioid crisis.  Yes, there are illegal drugs carried over from the Mexican border.  But they are carried by people with legal papers hidden in cars, trucks etc.  They are not carried over by asylum seekers.  There are many other means of smuggling drugs into the country and a wall will have no impact on that.  Heck, you can get drugs from China in the mail.  A lot of addiction is the result of drug companies and doctors providing the means.  I have always say, if you have a demand, you will get the supply.  The money that goes to a wall would be better spent to prevent addiction and for treatment.

I have not heard the public reaction to Trump's speech.  I hope they are not falling any of the nonsense he spewed last night.  But then there are still a lot of people who believe that Mexico will pay for the wall!

The good news is that the Evil Empire was defeated tonight.  Not just defeated, but bullied and humiliated.  Alabama was outclassed on offense, on defense and in coaching.  It gives the rest of the college world hope.

The bad news the Evil Empire Jr. prevailed tonight.  This is looking like the Celtics and Lakers rivalry of the 1980s.  Can anyone break their stronghold?  Certainly nobody came close this year as the other 2 semi-finalists were pummeled by these two.  The only consolation is that Lakers and Celtics did fall from the top eventually.  But of course Alabama and Clemson do not have to draft last like the NBA champions had to do.  They get the top drafts (5 stars recruits) year after year.  So it maybe a few years before these two leave the top of the college football ranks.

Happy new year, everybody,  Hope 2019 is better for us domestically, internationally and economically.  It will be quite a year with the Democrats taking over the House, Mueller's investigation bound to be over and all the Democratic presidential hopefuls will be throwing their hats into the ring.

The first hat has already been thrown.  Elizabeth Warren has announced she is a candidate already.  She is already well known and yet she feels compelled to beat people like Kamala Harris, Corey Booker, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders to the punch.   So all others may have to follow suit.  I personally don't think Warren is the best candidate.  Her heart is in the right place. Her call for regulation of Wall Street is correct, in my opinion.  But she comes across as too preachy and plays into the mid America's fear that coastal elitist are trying to tell them what to do.  She may not be able to carried swing states such as Ohio, Michigan and Florida. I also don't think that it will be good for the country if we swing to far left.  So being darling of the left like Sanders and Harris will not be ideal in the 2020 election.

My early pick is Joe Biden.  That is of course depending on his health and energy level since he is on the old side.  The left may think that he is too throw back to the past.  But I think his experience, especially in foreign affairs, is needed now.  Despite being a white male, I think he can get the black voters to come out as he was Obama's vp and good friend.  He will also be able to carry places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan against Trump.  To balance the ticket and have a shot at Texas, I recommend that he pick Beto O'Rourke to be vp.  It also will show that the Democrats are ready for the next generation of leadership.