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source: CNN / December 28, 2025

After the off-cycle elections of Nov 2025, in which Trumper candidates lost decisively, we’re now into 2026 and the upcoming midterms. Because of the continuing bad numbers for Trump and the party that signed on with his nonsense & chaos – really bad – Dems are looking for a knockout punch in November.

Trump will try to cancel, invalidate or somehow derail that upcoming vote. Bet your farm on that. His entire life has been one of making business mistakes and / or violations of law, and then skipping out of responsibility for it. Remember how he couldn’t accept losing the 2020 election to Biden?

Problem ; majorities are now strongly opposed to the carnage Trump & a rubberstamping GOP are causing. IMO they have no intention of having their vote nullified.

So it’s possible there could be fallout – millions in the streets, etc. Let’s hope it all unfolds with more of a whimper than that.

Media Inc, major outlets of which are almost all owned by larger corporations – with profit interests that the GOP answers to – is not going to lead with these stats below. They are reported but you have to watch for them & dig for them. And then you can compile an accurate reading of what is likely approaching.

If it’s negative for the GOP, Media Inc is now at a juncture of tilt and bias in which they are not going to do that for you. You have to connect dots on your own ;

12/16/25

Six polls that show Donald Trump is in deep economic trouble

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/six-polls-that-show-donald-trump-is-in-deep-economic-trouble/ar-AA1Ssm2U

Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports that U.S. employers have laid off over 1.1 million workers year-to-date through November, a 54% increase year-over-year (down article)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/goldman-sachs-makes-unemployment-prediction/ar-AA1Sp6BG

12/28/25

Companies are outlining plans for 2026. Hiring isn’t one of them

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/companies-are-outlining-plans-for-2026-hiring-isn-t-one-of-them/ar-AA1T8MQg

Bankruptcies soar as companies grapple with inflation, tariffs
– paywalled if you don’t subscribe to WaPo (do not send $ to GOP apologist Jeff Bezos…). But you’ll see the top of the article for a moment.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/27/corporate-bankruptcies-economy/

As mentioned it’s a few dots, but it’s not hard to connect them. GOP’s win elections with smoke & mirrors and simpleton economic theory (cut taxes on wealth), that a poorly informed electorate falls for time and again. Then they get in office and prove their incompetence at the job. Then, Dems get supercharged for another Blue Wave, as independents wake up and move away from Republicans.

(see graphic above from Dec 28th on CNN. In politics jingo, a “freefall”. If Republicans don’t get that voter back, they’re not winning in November).

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2026 / all rights reserved

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source: whyy.org

March all you want, but it’s academic unless you also march yourself to the ballot box in November.

I’ve referenced in prior posts the low job approval of Donald Trump, specifically among independents / where elections are won and lost. So Dems were looking for a big night on Tuesday to register that electorally, and that’s just what took place.

After Trump disciple Glenn Youngkin won the VA governor’s race 4 years ago, with the assist of some media-amplified fear mongering about “critical race theory” (remember that red herring?), on Tuesday VA voters overthrew all of that and handed Abigail Spanberger a decisive win. 14.6% / big in a purple state.

Then a couple hours later came an even larger MAGA repudiation. Media Inc had been running with the canard that NJ would be “close”. Uh huh. Trump’s candidate Jack Ciattarelli lost by 13.1%. NJ is more liberal than VA, mostly a blue state but it has elected Republican governors at times, including Chris Christie twice. And by golly, Trump has a lot of support there ; according to a corporate press which is now clearly in his corner. (See 2024, no mention of Trump corruptions at all before the election. Not at all. The parent company owner of ___ news outlet, wants their tax cut dammit).

So the NJ winner Mikie Sherrill, made a point to confer national significance to her victory, and perhaps, give a hint about her future aspirations: “USA will never be ruled by kings” 😄

> Tacked On

For context which is driving the above election results ;

LendingTree estimates the tariffs will increase holiday costs by a total of $40.6 billion.

The average American holiday shopper will pay $132 more because of the tariffs implemented by President Trump, the online lending marketplace estimates.

Well, we’ve got to get those factories back from overseas. You know, the ones where robots do most of the labor now and it’s not the 1950’s anymore? So you need to cough up for that and pay tariffs… 😮

NBC News poll of late October:

The Trump administration has — lived up to (1st figure) / fallen short (2nd figure) ;

Inflation and the cost of living 30% / 66%

Looking out for the middle class 33% / 65%

The economy 34% / 63%

And about the 2026 midterms? On a 1-10 scale / 10 is extremely interested ;

10 / 58%
9 / 8%
8 / 12%

Those 3 highest levels of interest, total to a massive 78%. So inflation and the tariffs are not going unnoticed.

Midterms typically come in at only 30-40% of the electorate however. As mentioned, poll answers and marches don’t matter if you don’t exercise your vote. At least in VA and NJ last night, Americans did exactly that.

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2025 / all rights reserved

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source: https://share.google/images/gtuBGmFsdc4dNu8mR

The band Rush is gearing up for a new tour. Renown drummer & lyricist for the band Neil Peart, passed away a few years ago and they had been in semi-retirement. But they contracted with an excellent replacement & set about to board the cash cow that classic, high-demand acts like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, have been riding for decades now.

It’s that thing where first of all, the worst seats in the arena are about $125, and best ones up in front are about 10x that. Then you have the scalper’s aftermarket. At least that used to be a mom & pop operation, but you go on Ticketmaster now for the Rush tour, and all that are left are “resale” tickets which are double or more of original face value. It apparently means that Ticketmaster decided they could put mom & pop out of business and they would simply sell the scalped ticket after they sold the original ticket. Era Of Corruption, et al…

And Rush signed off on this grifter ticketing system – they are seasoned pros and they know how it works – and the other day they put out a video on YouTube announcing the tour. Hey!

It’s sort of next-level comedy, as Geddy and Alex apparently had no idea about the wrath which awaited them in the comments. It’s theater actually – go read them.

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBfbGZrEQss&t=2s

To their (lesser) credit, they have not screwed with the comments received about what a rip off the tickets are. They’ve left them all up, perhaps deciding that to now become censors on top of being a couple of players warped by wealth and greed, would only make matters worse… 😄

I think they were blindsided, out of touch with the paycheck-to-paycheck world they once knew so well. And they probably feel sick about getting their fanbase mad, and also as this regards to trashing their legacy. They need to cancel and refund these shows, and start over with a non-transferable ticket system that will close off the aftermarket.

Whether they will do that remains to be seen, but at the moment the whole situation is quite the spectacle of 2020’s Americana. Here is what I told them, or an assistant whom will likely be screening these. Nonetheless they need to hear it ;

Neil Peart had it wrong about Ayn Rand, whom the far right co-opted to justify laissez-faire capitalist greed and extreme inequality. But he got this right ;

“One likes to believe in the freedom of music –
But glittering prizes and endless compromises,
shatter the illusion of integrity”

A non-transferable ticket means a numbered ticket system and you show your ID at the door. Yes, that is a hassle and admission through the doors takes longer. But that is not so much to bear, in order to shut down a price-gouging after market that ends up charging a multiple of face value and importantly, pricing most of the fans who put you on the map, out of a chance to see your live show.

It started when the Eagles reunited for Hell Freezes Over in 1994. The first three-figure rock concert tickets ($100+), and it is nothing short of elitism.

“Sure, you bought our $7 tickets and $6 albums and $5 t-shirts in the old days, and if you can afford a few hundred or thousand dollars now, come on out and see us. If you can’t well, it’s just the free market at work and we can’t do anything about it”.

See if that is the bottom line, you don’t have to tour. You can refuse to under that kind of usury pricing regime. – RG

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2025 / all rights reserved

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Progressives have been saying since March that the Trump policy of imposing tariffs to influence more manufacturing in USA, would be a disaster. He has pulled them back, put them back on, changed tariff rates all over the lot and given passes to absurdly rich corporations like Apple.

All creating economic uncertainty as well as defacto price hikes. New hiring has all but come to a halt because of it. Those two elements – more costly household goods and more difficulty replacing a job you lose – cannot have any other effect but to restrain the buying power of the US consumer. Consumption fuels 67% of the national GDP.

It is unfolding slowly as corporations incur the tariffs, but unfolding nonetheless. Americans are clued in to it and Trump’s approval ratings are suffering as a result.

That comports with his approval ratings of the last few months (article and comment addendums). Trump was down to 29% approval with independents in August, and from the latest NBC poll linked above “Just 8% of independents report positive feelings toward the actions of the Trump administration”.

And this: “about a quarter of respondents say they’re in better shape today than they were one year ago. One-third say they’re worse off today and about 4 in 10 say they’re in about the same financial position compared to one year ago.”

Think about how that accrues from an electoral standpoint. Trump won the 2024 election essentially on the promise to shut down inflation. If you are in the same shape as during Biden’s inflation, then he hasn’t delivered. That adds to the 33% who say they are in worse shape. Signaling disaster for the GOP in next year’s midterm elections if these numbers hold anywhere near where they are at present. Especially independents. If you lose a majority of those voters you are usually not going to win your election.

Walmart workers are sharing photos of price hikes of 38% or more. That article goes back to June.

The favorite subject of the corporate-owned press is Dems In Disarray. You will often see headlines to the effect of “Dems scramble to respond to latest Trump move”. As I mentioned in the VP Harris post linked above, Dems don’t have to have answers right now or do anything. Dems derive electoral power when Republicans win elections and then demonstrate they don’t know how to govern. Did you see them stopping Trump from imposing tariffs that are now raising prices for average Americans? Barring a major turnaround which is not going to happen (see, incompetent GOP), they are heading toward an all out revolt in both the 2026 midterms and the elections coming up this fall.

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2025 / all rights reserved

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The 40th anniversary of the epic Live Aid concert held in London and Philadelphia simultaneously. Broadcast on radio and television to an estimated audience of 1.9 billion people in 150 nations – some 40% of the world’s population as it stood in 1985.

The venue would alternate as each band finished their set, creating a set up window for the next band, etc.

Those numbers are incredible, as was the lineup of bands. The objective was to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. The Wikipedia link above goes deep into detail about that effort and also the project of putting the event together.

There was obviously some advance publicity, however I didn’t see any of it. It was a different media landscape at that time, no internet. Just your basics of broadcast television & radio, newspapers, magazines and a newish medium known as cable TV.

I stumbled onto Live Aid in progress on FM radio, making deliveries of something called the Zana Power Disc. A device so obscure now that Google cannot even find it, except for a long-expired trademark listing. No images. It’s competitor, the Mellin Lite Saver looked like this ;

Despite the gimmick appearance it was technically a half-wave rectifier, which altered current going in to an incandescent light bulb and allowed it to burn for years on end. Many years before LED bulbs or even compact florescent, both of which rendered it obsolete.

At my delivery stops I also heard the concert a couple of times on the radios of people outside their houses – while washing a car, doing yardwork or whatever. When I got home there it was on television, long into that evening.

Different in kind than Woodstock, and reprised to a degree in 2005 with the “Live 8” concerts.

I was hopeful that 20-year cycle would pick back up this year, or better still would become a yearly event. There happens to be a global refugees crisis of staggering proportions, estimated now to be more than 100 million people, mostly due to various wars & political strife. We badly need both money and awareness, at levels far beyond the blind eye that the First World turns to it.

Many of the Live Aid performances are up on YouTube.

As well as this BBC documentary: Live Aid Against All Odds.
> Part 1
> Part 2

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2025 / all rights reserved

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Reading back that SNL 50 post, and it would seem I was pretty unforgiving on Sir Paul McCartney…

The last time I heard him in decent voice was when he got up on the Ed Sullivan Theater Marquee in 2009, which didn’t actually look safe…

On The Beatles “Hey Jude” recording he’s heard screeching towards the end, the kind of thing that could have hastened demise of his voice.

By contrast, the evergreen voice of Pat Benatar. Touring this spring at 72, sounding great. She might tell you it’s fewer high notes, nonetheless she’s putting it over like the great singer she’s been for decades.

Not like someone who would be horrified if they played it back… 😄

Keep in mind these bootlegs which are all over the place now on YouTube, are just what somebody’s smart phone can capture and not professionally shot or produced.

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2025 / all rights reserved

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“As I predicted”, which she did. About Trump and tariffs.

VP Kamala Harris on April 30, 2025 made her first address since leaving office. Of course Media Inc gave it next to no coverage.

It does spend quite a bit of bandwidth on Dems In Disarray, critiquing response more than it critiques what Republicans are doing. The press, mostly owned now by mega-corporations, seeks to hold Democrats accountable and GOP’s entitled.

Entitled to their errors, inertia, benefactor allegiances & other corruptions. The oversight / watchdog role of Media Inc when Republicans are in power, has been AWOL since at least the Bush Jr. invasion of Iraq.

Responsibility is not on Democrats right now and they don’t need an elaborate counter-attack. Their best electoral power derives, from when Republicans are handed the keys and demonstrate yet again their incompetence at governing. Dems don’t have to do anything actually, except brace for impact when the bus crashes and GOP’s alienate independents, yet again. 

The other day, that group which declares no party affiliation, polled Trump at 31% approval. Quite the falloff from 6 months ago. GOP’s have to win them back to stay in office, as they roll out the carpet for inflationary tariffs no less.

That’s the ballgame right now. Not much else.

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2025 / all rights reserved

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Wow. I suppose it depends on your perspective & the era when you watched Saturday Night Live. But that thing last night was a flop from my viewpoint.

You’d expect & like this to be an epic, best-ever kind of production, and maybe the retirement offering of show founder / producer Lorne Michaels. He opens the show with a Paul Simon whom appeared occasionally in the 1970’s. He’s years on from good voice, maybe you pinch him in there somewhere for nostalgia but come on, not to open.

A few prompts to an AI bot (below), takes the open in a better direction. Perhaps then to all 5 of the surviving original cast riffing something, then an inset clip of Chevy falling.

As it was, Garrett had a small part in the show, as did Laraine Newman – Chase and Jane Curtin, none. Dan Aykroyd, not even there. Nor were Dana Carvey or Bill Hader. Also audience-only with Chase and Curtin: Victoria Jackson, Joe Piscopo, Billy Crystal, Cheri Oteri, Jim Belushi, Rob Schneider and Dennis Miller.

What? In some cases health issues could apply, but that is a lot to skip over.

The Atlantic got at the recency bias of the sketches. It’s paywalled but you can read the first few paragraphs.

NPR was similarly, not doing cartwheels. Toss Kim Kardashian in (SNL 50 did that…), and you know it’s off it’s rails.

Now Then ;

Beyond the pass you might have given Paul Simon, Lorne closed the music performances with Paul McCartney – whom continues to tour about 2 decades past when he could still sing. Play yourself back Paul & ask whether you are passing the audition at this point. Dreadful and just, don’t.

(McCartney is an icon of course. For my dime, the most prolific songwriter of the rock era. Add up his songs in The Beatles and in Wings, and it’s through the roof. Painful now to see what he’s reduced himself to).

Even given 3 1/2 hours run time, I would have dialed the musicians way back in favor of more, and better from the show’s best known comedians. I would have tried something which if the answer came back “yes”, would have been the only music statement needed on the show: Call up Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain and Steve Perry and see if they’d do a one-off reunion. Make a concert out of it & stream the rest on Peacock.

Now that, would have played. A band founded in the ’70’s and gigantic in the ’80’s, not much different from the show itself. If Roger Waters and David Gilmour can put down the knives for Live 8 (2005), why not try for it. Work up something worthy of, commensurate to the occasion.

Lorne is 80 now and his product last night was perhaps a parallel to McCartney. Maybe you can’t go back…

I’ve heard of deep fakes but this is ridiculous… 😄

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2025 / all rights reserved

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image source: wcpo.com

Will sometimes pull up Katie Couric’s podcast on the cell while at chores around the house, because of the guests she gets and also because of that trademark broadcaster voice. It’s a good one and arguably was a success component in the best job of her career, Today Show co-host. Her voice was perfect for that kind of show.

She shared something on one of those podcasts I never knew – early in her career she retrained her voice with regard to it’s pitch.

Pretty low female pitch for Katie, right? When she started out in TV, she said she had a higher voice and was advised to shift it downward. It’s not that hard, you just find a pitch you’re comfortable with and force self to use it until it becomes second nature. That was super advice for her career.

Taking an objective viewpoint here – not anything in the way of critique of higher voices. But this is interesting & something almost never discussed in the public realm.

The trick of shifting vocal pitch downward is only useful for women, unless it’s a man with a high voice / same benefit. The lower pitches just resonate better, and that can help you in a job.

So Couric effectively tossed out a tip to anybody who wants it. Try it out on friends – worth a shot.

Roy@Balkingpoints

Published 2018 / all rights reserved