John T. Reed’s news blog

I recently noted the immigrant crime disaster in Sweden and that nation’s lying about it and suppressing the facts. Some readers denounced me for that. I think they were Americans who felt it could not be true and you simply cannot accuse an entire nation of lying and covering up. America is a nation of immigrants. Sweden, for millennia, was not. Until the recent Middle Eastern immigration, in fact. Sweden was a nation of Swedes. So an accusation against all Swedes is sort of an accusation against all members of a large family. Not quite so outrageous by American standards. Sweden...

I keep hearing that ETFs are cheap and a great new way to invest. I am leery because I suspect they may not behave the way you need during a major financial crisis.Here is a paragraph from a 3/11/17 Wall Street Journal article about the SEC rejecting an application from the Winkelvoss Bitcoin Trust.“The decision comes as SEC officials have voiced concern about the complexity of some exchange-traded products and how volatile they can be during market routs. Trading in hundreds of exchange-traded products was halted on August 24, 2015, wen the market value of their shares diverged widely from...

Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem last season because America’s treatment of blacks. In Kaepernick’s case, the mistreatment included his last contract with the Niners which was for $126 million.For the record, he is free to leave the country and I suspect a plea to crowdfunding would raise the money for his one-way ticket in about 30 seconds.Kaepernick was applauded for his self-proclaimed moral principles. Then he recently declared free agency, i.e., quit the 49ers, and simultaneously proclaimed that he would stand for the anthem at his next employer’s games, if indeed there ever...

Went to Ruth’ Chris tonight in Walnut Creek, CA. They have three lavs and three pairs of faucets in men’s room. The water coming out of all the the hot water faucets is ice cold—even if you let it run for a while, even when you go back later..I tried to look underneath to see is the same supply line fed both faucets, but they have a hastily painted piece of plywood that is very much out of character with the elegance of the rest room preventing you from seeing the supply lines. Hard to repair leaks and such with...

When I finish a book, I promptly start to write a new one. I finished my first novel The Unelected President last August. I needed to do some extra work when it first arrived, shipping back orders, sending our review copies, and so on.I also needed to revise my book How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Own How-To Book which sold out. Because I am now a novelist, the new title of that book will be How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Own Book.But I fell behind on all that because my brother-in-law died on October 11th of...