Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Sentiment and 11/3

By -

Preface from Tim: I want it made clear at the outset that I did not write this post. Most Slope posts are by me, but some come in through outside contributors, which I appreciate. I just don’t want anyone thinking I’ve backpedaled on my pledge to not write about politics myself. I haven’t. Anyway, here we go……….

Early polls combined with current news sentiment indicate Joe Biden is now the favourite in the presidential race.

Joe Biden is increasingly looking like the clear favourite to win the next U.S. presidential election. Biden has led since polling began, but he has widened this lead following Trump’s perceived mishandling of both the coronavirus pandemic and the public outcry over the death of George Floyd.

(more…)

Paved with Good Intentions

By -

Early Sunday morning, I was driving down Santa Cruz Avenue, which is the main retail drag of Menlo Park, and it was so sad. Only a few months ago, this was one of the most affluent and ritzy retail strips in the Bay Area, and yet a dozen different places were utterly empty and abandoned with a For Lease sign on the front. It was like a ghost town, even though it is surrounded by thousands of millionaires.

All of us known small business owners who have been struck down by the shutdown, such as barbers, gym owners, party centers, restaurants, and so forth. In an effort to help, the government has thrown trillions of dollars at the problem, including a multi-hundred-billion dollar SBA “Paycheck Protection Program” designed to help employees keep their jobs while their employers are struggling.

(more…)