The Harbor House Restaurant, Cape Town, South Africa: Was it "A Taste of Apartheid."

Three of us went shopping and eating dinner last night at the fashionable Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town. We were a tall African American woman, a not as tall Puerto Rican Latina who was a Navy veteran, and myself, an olive skinned Caucasian. We were obviously casually but appropriately attired tourists with bags of swag. There was nothing grungy or mangy about us. The Harbor House Restaurant was recommended to us. It proclaims itself to be the oldest restaurant on the waterfront, which it literally adjoins. It features seafood. It has a main level and a smaller lower level closest to the water. We entered the Harbor House. Only one table was occupied. The hostess asked us first if we had reservations. Only one table was occupied at the time. We said no. She then asked if we wanted to sit on the lower level. Our response was: “Is it warm?” Cape Town gets very chilly during winter. The answer was “Yes,” so we assented. As we sat down, we realized it wasn’t so warm. We also noticed that the lower deck was out of sight of the main deck. Hmm! We started thinking. Then they sat a young African couple at a nearby table, followed by three young, casually dressed tourists on the other side, topped off by a group of six Asians at the far table. The main level was still mostly empty. It quickly became obvious what was happening. We were on the poop deck reserved for the less desirables. We interfered with the ambience of the main level. We noticed when we left that the main level was still ¼ empty, but the patrons were all in their 40’s and 50’s nicely dressed. It was clear that our money was desirable, but not our presence. The thought that came almost simultaneously was “A Touch of Apartheid.” What about the food? It was OK – nothing spectacular. It was Ok for the price. Almost everything is OK for the price in Cape Town with a 15:1 rate of exchange with the South African Rand to the American dollar. My bill was bout 260 Rand with the value added tax and tip, in other words about $17.50. I don’t do seafood, so I ordered the prime cut of beef. It tasted fine, but I have no idea what the goop was on the beef on the poop deck. The waiter impressed us with his memory of United States capitols, although he mixed up North and South Dakota – an easy mistake to make. That was the high point of the meal.

Trump, Clinton, Warren and Obama Need to Disclose

Trump, Clinton, Warren and Obama need to disclose Donald Trump is refusing to release his tax returns pending the resolution of a years’ long audit. No audit or law prevents him from disclosing. Clearly he doesn’t want to. The assumption is that something is in the thousands of pages that would be embarrassing to him. Secretary Clinton refuses to release the transcripts of her speeches to Goldman Sachs and others. She gave three speeches at $225,000 each to Goldman Sachs. The actual cost to Goldman Sachs was greater than $225,000. The speeches were each 20 minutes long. In addition to the fee, her contracts also call for a private jet, preferably a Gulf Stream 450 or larger, and $1,000 per day for a transcriber to transcribe the presentations. Thus copies of her speeches exist in her hands. Her staff are to receive first class or business class tickets to the events. In addition, two members of her staff are to be on the site within three days of the presentation to set up. All local meals and transportation are to be included in their charges. Finally, as unbefitting a self-proclaimed candidate of the people, she is to receive the Presidential suite at the hotel and up to three adjoining rooms. Never forget, Secretary Clinton, the self-proclaimed candidate of the people battling against inequality, has said she has not driven a car in two decades. What could be so valuable to Goldman Sachs to pay $675,000 to Secretary Clinton for 60 minutes? It come out to about 187.50/second, and an hourly rate of $11,250. Even Wall Street lawyers don’t charge that much. We know the speeches were transcribed, so make them available. Senator Elizabeth Warren is apparently a faux Indian, claiming to be American Indian to use affirmative action to receive privileged teaching positions, for which she was otherwise unqualified, first at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and then Harvard Law School. Senator Scott Brown said it best yesterday: “She can take a DNA test.” The fuller text is “She’s not Native American, She’s not 1/32, She has no Native American background except for what her family told her. “The easy answer, as you all know, is that Harvard and Penn can release the records. She can authorize the release of the release of these records, she can take a DNA test. She can release the records herself. The DNA test is available from both Ancestry.com and 23&me for $99-199. The millionaire candidate, again of the people, who made millions representing Dow Chemical, Travelers Insurance, LTV Steel, and other corporate clients. She is both a faux Native American and faux populist. Senator Brown calls her “a total fraud.” Donald Trump refers to Senator Warren as Pocahontas, but now says he owes Pocahontas an apology because his remark is an insult to the real Indian. The Democratic ticket has a compulsive liar at the top and perhaps a total fraud as VEEP. What does that say about the modern Democratic Party? As for President Obama, questions have arisen over what is in his academic files from Occidental, Columbia, and Penn. Is it his grades, his SAT and LSAT scores, or is it something he included about his place of origin? I was never a Birther. I’ve always believed that whether he was born in Hawaii, Kenya, Indonesia or the moon did not matter because he was born to a United States citizen, and hence was a U.S. citizen from the time of birth. However, he may have falsely something in those files that could have given him an edge in admissions or financial aid. Maybe he’s not as bright as many believe he is. Who knows? Secretary of State Kerry’s academic records at Yale showed that President Bush, the supposedly intellectually challenged George W. Bush, out-performed Secretary Kerry at Yale. Kerry is a faux intellectual. No law requires disclosure of any of this information. I say to all: Release the damn information!

Brexit and the United States: Brexit and Donald Trump May be the Same

The British voted 51.1% to 48.9% to leave the European Union. They voted to exit when the poling trend said the British would stay in. They voted to exit against the parade of horrors that were threatened if they left. Even United States President Obama went to England and threatened Great Britain would be at the “back of the queue” on trade deals if the British passed Brexit. That threat did not help the cause of Britain remaining in the EU. They voted to exit against the recommendations of most of their political leaders. They voted to exit against the wishes of the global international community. They voted to exit even if it might cause economic injury to the British economy. They voted to exit against warnings that Brexit might cause Scotland and Northern Ireland to secede from Great Britain. (The British actually wanted to pull out of Northern Ireland decades ago, so that’s not much of a threat.) The Brits voted to leave because they could. We call it Democracy. The Brits voted to leave because they value their independence. The English nation has consistently acted independently from the European mainland, choosing issues and allies on an ad hoc basis to further England’s goals. They did not vote to exit because, as some have said, the British voters were dumb, ignorant, or stupid. They voted after a spirited debate. They knew why they were voting with the highest turnout in decades. History will tell if it was a wise move or not The British, who only reluctantly entered the EU and retained the Pound rather than the Euro as its currency, voted to leave because they do not like the developments of the past two decades. The British people had several issues with the EU, but most centered directly or indirectly on an unelected EU bureaucracy in Brussels dictating policy. The EU central planners dictated policies and uniformity on critical issues, such as the environment, taxation, trade, and immigration. England as an independent island nation has welcomed refugees for centuries. It has an increasing Muslim population, mostly from the former colonies even before the recent wave of refugees fleeing the chaos in the Mideast. However, the British have noticed a great lack of assimilation in the newer immigrants accompanied by increased crime, “homegrown terrorism, such as the London subway bombings in 2005, and British citizens, such as Jihadi John, joining ISIS. They see the attacks in France and Belgium and want no more. They see the San Bernardino and Orlando and don’t like what they see Yet, they are being told by their political leaders and the EU to accept more Syrian refugees. They say no. They benefit from many of the EU open borders trade policy, but too many workers, as in the United States, have lost their jobs through globalization. They see an increasing inequality between the people and the financial class. They see their political leaders ignoring their views, except at election time. The opposition to the EU was what Americans would call bi-partisan, from Conservative and Labor supporters and members, from the left and the right - not from the leaders of both parties, who ignored them. Older voters, as in the United States, turned out in droves to reject the EU and maintain the Great Britain they grew up in and remember. The young voters apparently stayed home and did not turn out to vote. The English had a real opportunity to cast a meaningful vote. They did so. The Brexit voters are the Trump supporters in the primaries. Immigration, global trade, taxes, bad leadership, the non-elites – those are his issues. Whether it will be enough to win in November remains to be seen, but the Americans and British have a special relationship.

House Democrats Are Staging a Sit-In: Why??????

Most House Democrats, accompanied by several Democratic Senators, are engaged in a new exercise in futility. They are demanding that the House vote on gun control measures that have zero chance of enactment, already having been rejected by the Senate. The Democrats couldn't enact gun control when they controlled the House, Senate, and Presidency during President Obama's first two years in office. They certainly cannot do it now. They are demanding passage of a bill that will prohibit forbid persons on the Do Not Fly List or watch list from purchasing guns. That’s a very superficially appealing objective. The Do Not Fly List has a presumption of guilt before innocence and is notoriously inaccurate. For example, Steve Hayes of the Weekly Standard, a commentator for Fox News, was on the list. Senator Ted Kennedy had TSA problems, as did Congressman John Lewis, the civil rights icon, who ironically is leading the House sit-in. If passed, this measure would not have prevented the following shooting tragedies: Orlando San Bernardino Aurora, Colorado Sandy Hook Virginia Tech Columbine Chattanooga Charleston Isla Vista Santa Monica Seal Beach Brookfield Oakland Tucson Minneapolis Oak Creek Fort Hood Umpqua Community College Colorado Springs And the list goes on The hundreds of killings, often gang related, in Chicago, Baltimore, South Central LA, and the rest of our inner cities Nor would it have saved the lives of any law enforcement officers who have been murdered in recent years. It would not have stopped any of the shooting tragedies - none of them! The Democrats are employing the Rahm Emmanuel philosophy of never letting a good emergency go to waste. They are hoping to gin up public support for some version of gun control, whether or not it will solve in whole or part the problem. The House Democrats have resorted to the sit-in as a publicity stunt. These are not college students protesting the Vietnam War, CIA recruiters, or demanding freedom of speech. One irony of the sit-in is that the Democrats were filmed bringing food into the House- food from Chick-fil A, which I thought they were boycotting as anti-gay. These are our elected representatives who presumably have no better use of their time. House Speaker Ryan says it is just a publicity stunt. Yes, but it does serve one crazed, deceptive goal of the Democratic leadership: Deflect publicity and attention from Radical Islam Terrorism If so, how cynical, perverted, sad and tragic!

Hillary Clinton's Economic Program

Based on Hillary’s speeches on Tuesday and today, and previous statements, after cutting through the rhetoric, these are her actual economic proposals: Raise the minimum wage Increase social security Expand ObamaCare Invest in clean energy, Infrastructure, and medical and scientific research Free college Give benefits to coal miners losing their jobs to the War on Coal Expanded benefits to working families Paid family leave Stop fracking and the Keystone Pipeline Tax the rich Tax the banks Tax the hedge funds These are the continuation of the past 7 ½ years of the stagnant recovery of the Obama Administration It's the free lunch agenda Note to readers: A government which exists to redistribute income will end up with no income to redistribute.

Can Donald Trump Win the Presidency In Spite of Himself?

Campaigns have highs and lows, peaks and valleys, ebbs and flows. Donald Trump’s campaign is in the dumps right now. The media, which provided him hundreds of millions of free publicity during the primary campaign for the entertainment value, has reverted to its true liberal self. The media led by the New York Times have assumed a Dump Trump posture. Donald Trump had an opportunity to attack Hillary Clinton for a month after clinching the Republican nomination. Instead, he went off on his by now standard harangues, including a personal attack on a judge in a legal dispute. Derogatorily calling Judge Curiel a “Mexican” was just plain stupid. It reeks of racism. Attention was negatively focused on Trump instead of Clinton. It’s called an unforced error in tennis. We would call it a case of the “Galloping Dumbs.” He continues to attack Republican leaders instead of trying to unify the party. It’s “his way all the way’ or a torrent of vituperation. His remarks feed into the Obama focus group vetted talking point that he lacks the temperament to be President, even though she is notorious for her explosive temper. He has depended upon the cult of personality while the Clinton machine is organizing a formidable ground campaign; i.e. getting out the vote. Twitter feeds are no substitute for ads and a disciplined ground game. Governors can use their political organizations to help get the vote out for Presidential campaign. The good news is that the battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin have Republican governors, as do Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts The bad news is that these governors are not supporting him. Their organizations are not available to Donald Trump. Governors who have either said they will not support him, or are remaining quiet. They include Kasich of Ohio, Snyder of Michigan, Walker of Wisconsin, Hogan of Wisconsin, Rauner of Illinois, and Scott of Florida. . You can’t viciously attack elected officials, such as Senator McCain or Governor Martinez, and then expect support from them. His list of castigated enemies is large and growing. His campaign has little money in the bank and currently spending zero on advertising, whereas the Clinton Campaign is running ads in the battleground states. 2/3 of the ads feature the softer side of Hillary Clinton. He has minimal support among non-whites. He probably can’t win on white votes alone. He’s giving the otherwise unpopular Hillary Clinton a reason for Americans to vote for her: she’s not Trump. Here’s why Donald Trump still has a chance in spite himself. He’s not Hillary Clinton. She may be less disliked than Donald Trump, but her unfavorables still exceed her favorables. To quote the Bill Clinton campaign: “It’s the economy, stupid.” It’s still a moribund economy under President Obama. Hillary wants to be Obama’s successor. Donald Trump has created jobs. The only jobs Hillary Clinton has created are chauffers. Even with the past weeks of negatives even with the media’s Dump Trump blitz, Hillary Clinton is not blowing Donald Trump out of the race. She cannot put him away early in the general campaign. Donald Trump can run by repeatedly emphasizing a few themes: It’s the economy It’s immigration It’s global trade It’s terrorism. And, for good measure, It’s all about gun control. Leave the personal crap behind. Cut the vicious remarks. Don’t continue to behave as if he must respond, often viciously, to every slight, insult, or criticism. Leave the skin thin behind with Corey Levandowski. Take advantage of bad news, such as poor economic data. There will probably be more terrorist attacks before November. Attack the Obama-Clinton Administration as clueless and incompetent in fighting terrorism. Hammer Radical Islamic Terrorism! Make peace, not war with Republicans. At some point during the long campaign, Hillary Clinton will say something incredibly stupid, especially when she gets off her focus group programmed talking points. Even the media won’t be able to ignore. Hammer it home. Remind Americans why they don’t like Hillary Clinton. Why Donald Trump can still win? The American people are looking for a leader. Hillary Clinton is not a leader.

Walt Disney World is Down an Alligator Hole in Orlando

Orlando has witnessed three inexplicable, horrific tragedies over the past two weeks. First was the killing of Christina Grammie while signing autographs after a performance. Second was the Jihadist massacre in the Pulse Nightclub, killing 49 innocent victims and wounding 53. Third was the alligator snatching a 2 year old boy out of the arms of his father by the Grand Floridian at Disney World. The first two probably could not have been prevented except through onerous security that Americans will not yet accept. The Disney tragedy was a death that Disney could easily have prevented. Disney is going to have to settle this case quickly. They do not want a public trial, not just for the adverse publicity, but it will show how arrogant and reckless they were in managing the resort. More and more disclosures are coming out about how careless Disney was in handling the alligator problem. A video surfaced today of a Disney employee shooing an alligator away from Splash Mountain. Alligators are amazing animals. They survived the Age of the Dinosaurs with little evolutionary change. They are near perfect killing machines. They have a brain the size of the pea, but genetics makes up for the lack of brainpower. They’re cold blooded so they don’t need a high calorie diet. Indeed, they can go months without eating. They are quick in snatching an opportunity. Baby alligators have to worry about large, cannibalistic alligators and some predatory birds and fishes. Grown alligators though only have one enemy; i.e. humans with a gun. Alligators were hunted almost to extinction decades ago, but now that they were listed on the Endangered Species List in 1967. They’ve rebounded with a vengeance, back to an estimated 1.25 to 1.4 million in Florida alone. Alligators can show up in freshwater anywhere in Florida, including backyard swimming pools. Salt water crocodiles have made a similar comeback in Australia. Alligators respond to vibrations in the water. It tells them prey has entered their territory. They are stealth hunters, often approaching under water, followed by a sudden jump, accompanied by no warning. The two year old wading and splashing in the water, as young kids do, was helpless. The alligator, presumably a teen by its estimated size, seemingly jumped out of nowhere the grab the child. The father rushed and grabbed his son, but could not wrestle it back from the gator. Disney was cavalier in its attitude towards the risk of alligators. They claim there were no incidents in 45 years of Disney World. They claim the number of alligator attacks on humans is very low in Florida. One statistic is 383 attacks on humans between 1948 and 2015 with 23 fatalities. This was a tragedy waiting to happen. Floridians not only understand the risks of alligators, but they exult in them: The University of Florida Gators, the Gator Bowl, Alligator Alley, alligator farms, alligator wrestling, alligator feedings, and gator food, such as gator ribs, gator burgers, and gator chowder. Floridians are not stupid. They do not go swimming with alligators in their swimming pools. They tell their children to stay away from the water, especially at night. Gators may have pea size brains, but they remember who feeds them. Florida has rules against feeding the gators, but Disney employees are reported to have looked the other way at guests feeding the gators. Alligators quite often attack at night. The family from Nebraska was at the resort’s outdoor night time movie besides on the side of the lagoon. The tragedy was going to happen, sooner or later. Disney World created the risk and has tolerated it. The lagoon by the Grand Floridian is non-natural, created by Disney to add ambience to the resort. It is also attached the lagoon to existing, natural bodies of waters, thereby providing easy access for wandering gators. Disney World provided no warning to guests. The posted warning said “Deep water No swimming.” The warning was clearly inadequate. It said nothing about wading and provided no warning of the dangers of alligators. Other facilities in Florida provide detailed warnings about alligators. Disney claims to remove nuisance alligators, but t’s unclear when that most recently occurred. A San Diego layer visited Disney World in 2013 with his family. They were at Disney’s Coronado Springs resort when he noticed a gator eyeballing his 5 year old son. He grabbed his son and pulled him away. He then told the hotel manager of the close encounter. He says the response was:” These are resident pets., and we’ve known about them for years. And they’re harmless That Disney employee has a pea brain. They’re not going to attack anyone.” Cha-ching, Cha-ching, Cha-ching! Punitive damages! Alligators are not pets. They are not domesticated. They are wild killing machines. If only I were a trial lawyer, representing the family in this case.