John T. Reed’s news blog

Today’s WSJ (12/22/2018) has an article about zero-energy-ready buildings. Those are buildings that use much less energy than traditional buildings—and if equipped with solar panels, they actually use zero energy.I do not give a damn about renewable energy or fossil-fuel hatred. Like a guy in the article, I am just about maximizing income and minimizing outgo.For capital expenditures like energy conservation measures, I want at least a five-year payback. That is, if I pay $5,000 for a heat pump, I want to save at least $1,000 per year from lower energy costs for heating and air-conditioning.Over time in recent years,...

I am watching Levin interviewing Walter E. Williams. I love Walter. He is on my list or treasures whom we do not appreciate enough.https://www.johntreed.com/…/65671619-the-living-treasures-w…However, I would have been a little bit better guest than him on this subject. Levin sort of said what I say. The Constitution is fatally flawed. It places politicians in charge of the government—calling them “representatives.” But in what way is a politician representative of us? Congress typically has an approval rating of 6% to 11% or thereabouts. National binding referendums and a grand jury congress I say we need national binding referendums and a grand...

I suspect he may not have been able to immediately resign. Career officers are constantly going to various schools and I think each creates a new commitment. I do not know the deal in the Civil War but the WW II brass could not resign in a snitt as far as I know. And I don’t think you can resign during a deployment. . We won the Battle of Gettysburg without Hooker or the additional men he said he needed. . Hackworth was correct. The draftees were a cross section of society. Famous draftees include Elvis, Teddy Kennedy, Ralph Nader....

I just heard that the Green Beret now being pursued for murder—Matthew Golsteyn—is a West Point grad. Sorry to hear that. (I am a West Point grad and Vietnam vet.)All of his supporters, and he seems to only have supporters, essentially say that he is a great guy and the Taliban he killed was a murderous bomb maker, therefore, he did nothing wrong.That is not relevant to the legal case as far as I can tell. His wife and father seem to be saying the Army can’t do this because it was investigated before and seemingly ended. Also, irrelevant. Double...

Today’s WSJ reports that Amazon is now ending the sale of CRaP. That is their inside way of identifying products that “Can’t Realize a Profit.”So the richest man in the world, Mr. E-Commerce himself, Jeff Bezos, has finally figured out in December 2018, that the company he founded in 1994 should only engage in profitable activities. No s***hole country, S*erlock!In fact, he did NOT just figure it out. He knew all the time that his business model was CRaP. What changed is he is having more and more trouble getting away with it.His stock used to have a P/E ratio...