This is an excerpt from an article in California Globe published on January 30, 2021.

If you want to check me out or want to read the entire article, click here: Tesla's Elon Musk Leaving the Golden State for the No Income Tax State - California Globe

If you want to just read my Excerpt, it is in orange (mostly) below but, before the Excerpt, let us hear from California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales who Tweeted... “F*ck Elon Musk”.

Begin Excerpt:

“The California exodus is real.

California Globe reported in September that the Hoover Institution’s Lee Ohanian  warned about this. “California businesses are leaving the state in droves. In just 2018 and 2019—economic boom years—765 commercial facilities left California. This exodus doesn’t count Charles Schwab’s announcement to leave San Francisco next year. Nor does it include the 13,000 estimated businesses to have left between 2009 and 2016, Ohanian said. “The reason? Economics, plain and simple. California is too expensive, and its taxes and regulations are too high.”

If that isn’t enough, the San Francisco Business Journal interviewed one of California Globe’s business subjects, longtime Sacramento, California developer Paul Petrovich, who “says he is among the 30,400 wealthy Californians who will have to pay California’s wealth tax if it’s approved — so he’s moving to Austin.” Petrovich said “he will move both his residence and company, Petrovich Development Co., over the next two years, or as soon as he’s able to sell his holdings in Northern California and re-establish the company’s headquarters in the Texas capital.”

Musk will have plenty of company from California.

“Getting out of California, with the highest income tax in the country, and into Texas, which has no state income tax, could save Musk billions of dollars based on his compensation package awarded in 2018,” CNBC said.

“To help lure Tesla’s new factory, local officials granted the company tens of millions of dollars in property tax breaks. Musk confirmed on the company’s second-quarter earnings call in July that the plant would occupy about 2,000 acres 15 minutes from downtown, and would be used to build the Cybertruck, its Semi, Model 3 and Model Y. Musk said the factory will start delivering cars next year.”

Real estate is a big motivator for Musk. As the Globe reported, “The once-great state of California has become a minefield for commercial real estate investment and development and things will be getting worse, not better,” Joseph J. Ori, Executive Managing Director of the Paramount Capital Corp., a Commercial Real Estate Advisory firm wrote. “The assault on real estate in California has been occurring for years but has been done under the radar with small anti-real estate changes here and there that overall, had little effect on the industry. However, anti-real estate and business legislation hit overdrive about three years ago and has accelerated with a myriad of new laws and regulations.”

Ori warned that during the last two years, numerous legislative actions have been enacted or were on the 2020 ballot in California “that will negatively affect the CRE industry.”

Ori added, “California is becoming very inhospitable to the CRE industry and business in general and with these and other anti-real estate laws, it may be time for investors to demand substantially higher cap rates or decline to invest in California real estate altogether.”” 

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Pop Quiz: True or False...California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales is a Savvy Business-Friendly Public Official who is going to generate a lot of Tax Revenue for the State of California every year she is in office.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

If It’s Environmental … It’s OK With America...Part 2

I have added an Addendum to this Blog Posting that was published in my Little Read Book back in 2010. It is a little too complicated to be a Lagniappe, so I came up with an Addendum because it makes me look like I know what I am doing.

If It’s Environmental … It’s OK With America

Congress can save a lot of time and money with this bit of Foolishness.

Congress spends a lot of time trying to name pending legislation so as to ensure that it will obtain final passage. This means many Closed Door Late Night Meetings searching for just the right words to name a new bill. This means spending the taxpayer's money on Focus Groups grinding out the exact right Hot-Button Terminology. Think I am being Foolish? How dare you! Please allow me to prove my Foolishness…

Ø If a bill were proposed to ensure that big time contributors to Congress' political campaigns are properly rewarded for their donations, it would probably be named Senior Citizens Retirement Protection Act.

Ø Do not be too quick to label this as deceptive. These contributors are going to be Senior Citizens someday and they will become feeble and, when they do become feeble, they are going to need to be protected.

Ø It is a very brave politician that is going to take the chance that, in an upcoming re-election campaign, he will be labeled as having voted against Senior Citizen Retirement Protection.

In the current legislative Environmental Environment the sure things that will sail through our Congress are bills that protect the Earth's Precious Environment. Here is how Congress can eliminate all those Closed Door Late Night Meetings and all that tax money spent on those repeated and very expensive Focus Groups.

The next piece of legislation that starts making its way through Congress should simply be named...

Ø  Environmental Protection Act #1.

Ø  Environmental Protection Act #1 can be quickly followed by Environmental Protection Act #2.

Ø  Can you guess what the next one will be named? You guessed it … Environmental Protection Act #3.

Need I go on?

It is a very brave and stupid politician that is going to take the chance that, in an upcoming re-election campaign, he will be labeled as having voted against Environmental Protection!

What a stroke of genius this foolishness is! What a time saver! I'm glad I thought of it.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Addendum:

The Environment is back in the news (did it ever leave?). Maybe better said, The Environment Is Back Flat Dab In The Middle Of the News! Yea, that’s better.

It goes without saying (Why do we always say “It goes without saying” and then say it anyway?) the Environment is Important. Of course, it is! By golly...It is the Environment! What could be more important than the Environment!?

Something else that is important in today’s Politically Charged Landscape is Injustice, and when politicians want to line us up like Lemmings and lead us to the mountain top (or over the cliff), they latch onto Politically Charged Issues and Injustice is today’s Politically Charged Issue!

Don’t think that politicians are stupid just because they do so many stupid things. They are very practiced at being Smart Stupid because we are so practiced at being Lemming Stupid.

Here is what they have decided to dangle in front of us...

Environmental Injustice!

Gone is:

Ø Global Warming

Ø Climate Change

Ø Global Heating

Ø Greenhouse Effect

Ø Atmospheric Warming

Ø Climate Crisis

Ø High Global Warming Potential

Ø Warming of the Planet

Ø Change In Average Weather Conditions

Ø Change In Global Climate Patterns

Ø Climate Crises

Ø Global Temperature Change

Ø Increase In Temperature Of Lower Atmosphere

Ø Increase In The Earth's Atmospheric Temperatures

Ø Increase In The Earth's Oceanic Temperatures

Ø Shift In Worldwide Weather

All of the above (and many more) have been replaced with Environmental Injustice.

How efficient is that!

If our 9% Approval Rated Congress is anything, it is Efficient! ... Or is it?

OK. As I have said many times in the past, “If the horse is dead, get off the horse” and I’m done with this horse.

As Mel Brooks Said in The History of the World-Part 1, It’s Good To Be The King...Or was it?

Château Fontainebleau 

Henry IV was the King of France and he worked hard at being the King of France...

• He was an active ruler.
• He was admired for his repeated victories over his enemies and his conversion to Catholicism.
• He was called, "Good King Henry".
• He was remembered for his geniality (he had a kind and good-natured disposition and manner).
• He was known for his great concern about the welfare of his subjects.
• He worked to regularize France’s Finances (made it fit in with usual and accepted standards or practice).
• He promoted agriculture.
• He eliminated corruption.
• He encouraged education.
• During his reign, the French Colonization of the Americas truly began.
• He was celebrated in the popular song "Vive le roi Henri" (which later became an anthem for the French monarchy during the reigns of his successors).
• He drained swamps.
• He undertook public works projects.
• He protected forests from further devastation.
• He built a system of tree-lined highways.
• He constructed bridges.
• He built canals (He had a 1200-metre canal built in the park at Chateau Fontainebleau which can still be fished today).
• He ordered the planting of pines, elms, and fruit trees.
• He restored Paris as a great city, with the Pont Neuf, which still stands today, constructed over the river Seine to connect the Right and Left Banks of the city.
• He had the Place Royale built.
• He added the Grande Galerie to the Louvre Palace. More than 400 meters long and thirty-five meters wide, this huge addition was built along the bank of the Seine River. At the time it was the longest edifice of its kind in the world.
• He was a promoter of the arts by all classes of people, invited hundreds of artists and craftsmen to live and work on the Grande Galerie’s lower floors. This tradition continued for another two hundred years, until Emperor Napoleon I banned it.
• His vision extended beyond France as evidenced by his financing several expeditions of Pierre Dugua, Pierre de Mons and Samuel de Champlain to North America.
• During his reign France laid claim to New France (now Canada).
• He proved to be a man of vision and courage.
• Instead of waging costly wars to suppress opposing nobles, Henry simply paid them off.
• Henry is said to have originated the oft-repeated phrase "a chicken in every pot" when he said, “If God grants me life, I will make it so that no plowman in my realm will lack the means to have a chicken in his pot on Sunday!”
• This statement epitomizes the peace and relative prosperity which he brought to France after decades of religious war, and demonstrates how well he understood the plight of the French worker and peasant farmer. This real concern for the living conditions of the "lowly" population—who in the final analysis provided the economic basis for the power of the king and the great nobles—was perhaps without parallel among the kings of France.
• His forthright manner, physical courage, and military successes also contrasted dramatically with the sickly, effete languor of the last Valois kings, as evinced by his blunt assertion that he ruled with "weapon in hand and arse in the saddle" 
• Following his death Henry would be remembered fondly by most of the population.
• He adopted policies and undertook projects to improve the lives of all subjects, which made him one of the country's most popular rulers ever.

What a guy!

• In other words, he was loved by all...Or was he?
• He faced much opposition during his reign.
• During his life he became target of at least 12 assassination attempts.
• He was finally killed in Paris on 14 May 1610 by a Catholic fanatic, Francois Ravaillac, who stabbed him while his coach was stopped because of traffic congestion.

Fella Summation...You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. 

Mel Brooks Summation...It’s Good to be the King...Until It Isn’t.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

I Like the Old Days

 

Old Days... 

New Days...

I’m not kidding you.

Smartfella

The Evil Egg Ain’t So Evil After All

 

For decades we have been told about how Eggs Are Bad For Us.

Now Nutrisystem (among others) has declared Eggs to be a SuperFood that is very good for us. Be careful what you fall for hook, line and sinker. It seems no matter how intelligent your source you may have been sold a Well Intentioned Bill of Goods (whatever that means).

OK, I looked up “Bill of Goods” and here is what I found...  

“A bill of goods, as a phrase, has two meanings. The less common is a delivery of goods, a consignment. The more common definition is something that is knowingly presented in a false way, usually with the intent to deceive or gain something by the trickery.”

I go back to my use of the words above “well intentioned”. For decades the Smart People were trying to help us but that does not mean they were feeding us good information.

************

Here is a synopsis of what Nutrisystem (among others) is now telling us...

Surprised that eggs are considered a Superfood? It wasn’t too long ago that eggs picked up a reputation as an unhealthy food to avoid because they could contribute to serious health problems. Now we know that just the opposite is true: Eggs are a concentrated source of potent nutrients and provide many health benefits. They can play a vital role in our diets, especially when we’re trying to shed excess pounds.

Eggs are...

Ø  A source of High-Quality Protein with only about 80 calories per serving.

Ø  One large egg (one serving) comes with 5 grams of fat, including 1.6 grams of saturated fat.

Ø  The concerns about egg consumption were based on the 187 milligrams of cholesterol in an average egg. 

Ø  High blood cholesterol levels are associated with heart disease, but recent research has determined that eating foods high in cholesterol does not directly increase the levels stored in your body.

Ø  Foods loaded with saturated fats, such as fatty meats, are more likely to lead to high blood cholesterol.

Ø  A typical large egg provides you with about 7 Grams of Complete Protein, contained in both the yolk (yellow) and the albumen (white) parts.

Ø  The yolk is a Rich Source of Vitamin A and D, B Vitamins, Zinc and Iron.

Ø  It also delivers two Important Antioxidants, Lutein and Zeaxanthin.

Ø  These nutrients Protect Your Eyes from aging related conditions, such as macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the United States that affects over 10 million people.

Ø  They also support Healthy Brain Functioning.

Ø  Eggs supply you with Choline, a nutrient that is especially important for pregnant women, as it plays a key role in fetal brain development.

Ø  For everybody, Choline helps our bodies maintain and replenish all kinds of cells, transmit nerve impulses and process fat and cholesterol in our diets.

Ø  Only beef liver gives you more Choline than eggs do.

Ø  For all of us on a weight loss journey, eggs may be most valuable because they Help Stave Off Hunger.

Ø  People who ate an egg breakfast felt fuller afterwards and consumed significantly fewer calories at lunch and over the next 24 hours than those who ate a bagel-based breakfast with the same number of calories.

That ought to get you started to inspire you to run out and buy a couple of dozen eggs in order to get you Egg Munching for the next several decades until all of what you have been told above during your Munching Decades is “proven” false.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

Have you looked inside your shoes lately? I advise you to not look in there. It is downright Confusing and Scary.

When I made the mistake of looking inside my new tennis shoes it was the Shoe Sizes that scared me. DidYaNotice I said “Sizes” in the Plural. My shoes do not just have 1 Size they have 5 Sizes!

My Shoe Size is shown as...

Ø U.S. 10

Ø U.K. 9.5

Ø France 44

Ø Japan 280

Ø China 270

This is confusion if I have ever seen confusion! Someone ought to do something before people all over the world start getting into accidents while driving their cars because they are so distracted about this ongoing quandary.

Had Winston Churchill looked inside my shoe he would have said, “I say this is certainly is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. (Why is it that every really intelligent quote we hear sounds like it came from Churchill?)

************

Maybe, just maybe, it is not just a Numbering System Snafu. Maybe the French, Japanese and Chinese just have bigger feet.

Around where we live it seems like there are more Koreans than there are Caucasians. When we go walking in the park it is not unusual to see that 8 out of 10 walkers going the opposite direction from us are Korean.

Now I don’t think Koreans are Japanese or Chinese but they may be close enough that these Koreans are walking by me with 270 and 280 Size Feet and I have just not noticed.

You can bet I’m going to do some feet checking on my next trip to the park.

I’ll report back to you what I find out.

************

Oops, I just checked on the Internet and saw where the Good Ole USofA’s new Administration is on top of this issue. I should have known they would be. They have said they are going to fix everyThing and I certainly think this is a Thing that ought to be Fixed.

I wonder if the outgoing Administration will forever be remembered for leaving this issue unresolved. 

I think it certainly ought to be high up on their Undone List. It is unconscionable that they spent so much time working on things like Middle East Peace when this monster issue was lurking in the background and no one was paying it No Never Mind (Whatever That Means).

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

A quote from a book called 60 hikes within 60 miles: Atlanta.

“The Suwanee Greenway is an environmental success story of the Atlanta area. Destroyed by source-point pollution, Suwanee Creek was previously known as Black Creek. The Bona Allen Tannery, located on the creek in Buford, was founded in 1873 and pumped untreated chemicals used in the tanning process into the river. Acid, lime and dyes all made their way into Suwanee Creek, killing all living creatures and creating a 15 mile environmental disaster area. When the tannery closed in the 1970s, it was estimated that the river could take 100 years to return to a normal state. Today the river has risen from the dead, some 30 years after the tannery closed.

Today, the Suwanee Greenway is a breeding ground and rest stop for migratory birds. Among the species that make use of the once-polluted creek and wetlands are great blue herons, black vultures, red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, osprey, and the American bald eagle. There is even an active beaver dam south of Martin Farm road.”

************

Because my Foolishness...Or Is It Blog is read worldwide the above quote may not be of great interest to most of you because you live a very long way from Suwanee Creek.

According to BlogSpot (Google), as of 1/20/21, my Blog has now had 197,577 Views of its 1,389 Blog Postings in many different Corners of the World (the top 3 Corners of the World behind the United States are: 35,411 in Italy, 7,370 in Russia and 2,830 in Unknown Regions...Wherever that is?).

Be that as it may, Fella got to thinking about the above Suwanee Creek Information and next thing he knew the bullet point list seen below had been created.

Was there a Focus Group discussion 30 years ago that proceeded along these lines?

The Focus Group Leader starts off by saying...

Ø Historically we have always been successful in getting a lot of money donated from many different sources because we have been very careful to make sure our message is fraught with bad news.

Ø Our analysis of the Suwanee Creek Tannery Pollution Story points to a very serious pollution disaster that we anticipate will be resolved in about 30 years.

Ø This is really bad but it is not bad enough.

Ø Our green eye shade guys tell us that, if we solicit funds and tell our potential donors it will take 30 years for Suwanee Creek to return to a Normal State, we will lose about 82.5% of our donations.

Ø Gentlemen, 30 years is not enough!

Ø We can do better!

Ø Being sly, cunning and alert we have determined that, if we convey to our potential donors that it will take 100 years to return to a normal state, we will not only not lose that 82.5% but we will gain another 12.75% in donations.

Ø That kind of money is nothing to sneeze at!

Ø I am asking for a show of hands to officially set the Return to a Normal State from this Environmental Disaster at 100 Years!

Thank you for your 100% approval of our 100 years Return to a Normal State Designation!

I would like to add that it is this kind of Deceptive Forward Thinking that is a integral part of what it takes to rake in the kinds of Mega Bucks that has made us such a driving force in the Mega Buck Raking In Industry.

Before we go to happy hour and because of the vote we have just taken I don’t think it would be going out on a limb for me to commit to you at this time that our Annual Mega Bucks Planning Meeting this year will move from Palm Springs to Maui in the Hawaiian Islands.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

How I Can Trick Google into Going Out Of Business

Google thinks it is Bullet Proof. Actually Google is only one Fella Trick away from being a thing of the past.

Here is the Fella Trick...

Ø Arrange for some Famous Hollywood Movie Star to go to Google Headquarters and make a presentation to management along the lines of what I am going to lay out below.

Ø The Famous Hollywood Movie Star should, of course, be someone who is Highly Regarded by the executives at Google.

Ø Highly Regarded need not have anything to do with Acting Ability but, more importantly, he would need to be someone who has made a Movie that is Socially Conscious, about the Environment, having something to do with Baby Seals or Polar Bears and Melting Polar Ice, where he played a character who Has a Limp, who was Born a Poor Person who was sexually abused by a Rich Person in his youth, who while he was in College worked in a Nuclear Power Plant where he became a Whistleblower who turned in the Evil Rich Plant Manager because the Evil Rich Plant Manager was letting the plant’s employees disregard State Law and not Recycling Plastic Water Bottles and who had written his College Thesis declaring his opposition to people who objected to Solar Windmills because the Windmills made a Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh Sound.

Ø As we all know, Google is on a campaign to destroy anyone who does not agree with Google on Everything.

Ø All the Highly Regarded Actor needs to do is convince the Management of Google to publish a book that contains Everything that Google Thinks Is Correct and Acceptable.

Ø Once the book is published Everyone would be able to live in a manner that would be Acceptable to Google.

That, My Dear Readers, would put Google Out of Business!

What? You don’t see it? You disappoint me again! I will explain...

If Everyone knew what Google believed about Everything, there would be no need to go to Google to Google Google to find out Anything about Anything because we would already know what Google believes about Everything, therefore, no one would be Googling Google about Anything and Google would dry up and Go Out of Business!

Would I kid you?

Smartfella

How to Write a Dire Headline

I really don’t mean to make light of the Coronavirus...

Is it Coronavirus?

Or is it? Wuhan Virus

Or is it? Chinese Flu

Or is it? Novel Coronavirus

Or is it? COVID-19

Or is it? CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Virus

Or is it? SARS-CoV-2 Virus

Or is it? Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

Or is it? Coronavirus Disease 2019

Or is it? That Dire Pandemic That’s Going To Kill Us All!

I am not going to volunteer to become Number Next to get infected but can I be allowed to say that it ain’t as bad as we are being told it is bad?

I can just see your collective eyes popping out of your collective heads. Put your eyes back in and allow me to explain.

************

There is a lot of effort going into making this Virus sound worse than it actually is. Your eyes are popping again. Calm down and I will try and convince you that I am not being silly.

Here is a Dire News Headline...

“60% Of French Sailors on Aircraft Carrier Were Infected With COVID-19!”

This Dire Headline conjures up Dire Images and Dire Thoughts like...

Ø Golly gee! That’s awful!

Ø Those poor souls!

Ø They can’t get away from it!

Ø They are trapped on that ship!

Ø It’s going to get all of them!

Ø Heads are going to roll for allowing this to happen!
>This last bullet is a Growing Constant in the Good Ole USofA today. No matter what happens, it has to be someone’s fault...Lack of rain, Dramatic ends to football games, Hurricanes, Taking too long to develop a vaccine, Too much rain, Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera.

Click Here: https://youtu.be/iSd6-EvBgN4

The late Paul Harvey just dropped in for a visit. He took one look over my shoulder at what I was pecking out and said, “Fella, tell them the Rest of the Story”.

I always do what Paul tells me. The Rest of the Story is not as Dire as they (whoever they are) want us to think it’s Dire...

Ø Of the 1,074 sailors on board only 2 required Intensive Care.

Ø Not a single sailor died of the virus.

************

Can’t you just hear the Dire Headline Focus Group at the Newspaper talking in their Dire Headline Production Meeting...

Ø How about we lead with the fact that there are 1,074 sailors on board that ship.

Ø That’s a good start but let’s see if we can make it sound worse.

Ø How about there are 2 sailors in Intensive Care?

Ø What’s wrong with you? That’s not dire at all!

Ø How about no one died?

Ø Get out of here! That’s less dire than only 2 in Intensive Care!

Ø I got it! There are 1,074 sailors on board the ship and 60% of them have contracted the Dire Coronavirus implying that they are all going to die.

Ø That’s it!

Ø That ought to depress the heck out of them!

Let’s go to Happy Hour!

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: A Fella Wow Fact... Yul Brynner played the role of the king in The King and I 4,625 times. Wow!

This is the next statue to be torn down because Yul Brynner played a King 4,625 times and he was not a real King... 

(Statue of Brynner in front of his birthplace in Vladivostok)

Silly Is a Slippery Slope

Columbus’ sailing mates were afraid they would fall off the end of the Earth. Our House of Representatives has just gone over the Edge of Goofiness and is disappearing below the Ooze of Absurdity.

He, She, Father and Mother and such terms will no longer be welcome in the 117th Congress if new changes to their House Rules are approved.

Our new Congress is determined to go Gender Neutral and, in its blind determination to get there, it appears to be equally determined to take Foolishness and Silliness and to massage it into Illogical Nonsense.

Here is an excerpt from the newly proposed Rules of the House of Representatives... 

“In clause 8(c)(3) of rule XXIII, strike ‘father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in- law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, grandson, or granddaughter’ and insert ‘parent, child, sibling, parent’s sibling, first cousin, sibling’s child, spouse, parent-in-law, child-in-law, sibling-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, half-sibling, or grandchild’”.

************

We don’t have Statesmen in Congress any longer. We have Politicians who stand up and say, “Let’s go to happy hour!”

A Statesman would make like Peter Finch from the 1976 movie Network and stand up and shout, “I'm Mad as Hell and I'm Not Gonna Take This Anymore!”

************

Fella believes this Gender Neutral Quest is Senseless and he proposes a simple solution...Just Say No!

Ø No...I am not going to pay any attention to this dictate from whoever created this unnecessary complicated silliness.

Ø No...I will not do this because it unnecessarily complicates the world we live in.

Ø No...I will not do this because the people I am trying to communicate with will not know what the heck I am saying.

************

My Mother and Father were My Mother and Father and no amount of craziness from the U.S. House of Representative is going to make me think that they would not have wanted to be called Mother and Father and worse yet, if I did call them Mother and Father, I was actually doing something wrong!

How long will it be before we will be explaining to our confused Former Mother...

“Please don’t be difficult! You have to learn to change with the times. As much as you would like to be called a Mother, we can’t ever go back up the Silly Slope. I can see that you are hurt but hurt is no longer important. I’ll compromise with you but this is my final offer. I will consent to calling you “Parent Who Looks Like A Woman” but don’t tell anybody I did this or I will stop coming over on your birthday and singing that Silly Happy Birthday Song that you love so much!”

Would I kid u?

Smartfella