Chase Bank Tweeted some Monday Motivation.

Then, because they are cowards, they promptly deleted it because of internet backlash.

Here is the horrible thing that they said:

Well… they were right.

According to Barclay’s Small ‘swaprifices’ could save millennials up to £10.5bn a year.

Millennials could save a whopping £10.5 billion* a year by making minor changes to their spending habits, new research from Barclays found.

More than two-thirds (67 per cent) of millennials admit they don’t save enough – or anything at all – with new findings showing that the average 20-37-year-old spends £3,312.72 a year on takeaways, eating out, daily treats, socialising and buying new clothes.

According to Barclays’ research, millennials spend, on average:

£904.20 a year on socialising
£738.96 a year on new clothes, shoes and accessories
£705.96 a year on eating out
£522.60 a year on takeaways
£441 a year on daily treats (coffees etc)

But rather than consigning themselves to a life of frugality, Barclays’ research shows that making small ‘swaprifices’, such as replacing every fifth takeaway, shop-bought coffee and night out with free alternatives or having a night in, could save millennials up to a hefty £662.54, on aaverage.

This data isn’t unique to Barclay’s.

CNBC has covered this twice:

Here’s how millennials spend their money, compared to their parents

When it comes to saving money, a lot of millennials are falling short: The majority of young people have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts, and a significant number have nothing at all.

Perhaps their spending habits could explain their lack of savings.

According to a new report from Charles Schwab, millennials spend more than other generations on comforts and conveniences like taxis, pricey coffee and dining out.

Sixty percent of millennials admit to spending more than $4 on coffee, 79 percent will splurge to eat at the hot restaurant in town and 69 percent buy clothes they don’t necessarily need.

Then there was this advice:

Here are the top three ‘stupid’ things millennials waste money on, says Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary

Here’s O’Leary’s advice to millennials about the top spending habits to quit, stat.

”$4 coffee. Incredibly stupid,” O’Leary told CNBC while at the World Government Summit in Dubai this week. “Look, I know I’m going to get hate mail from all the coffee brands, but coffee costs 18 cents to make yourself. Until you have savings and have paid off your college debt, do not buy a $4 coffee, I forbid you.”

And just for fun, let’s see what the finance and  investment website The Balance says:

How Millennial Spending Habits Compare to Other Generations

Generally speaking, millennials are bigger spenders than the generations before them, especially when it comes to dining habits, like eating out or buying expensive coffee. For example, 60% of millennials will buy a cup of coffee that costs more than $4, compared to only 40% of Generation X’ers or 29% of Baby Boomers.

Eating at a popular restaurant is another habit of millennials, with 79% polled saying they would spend money on doing so, compared to 66% in Generation X and 56% of Boomers.

Seems that all the evidence shows that millennials spend too much of expensive junk like coffee and jeans with holes in them and don’t put as much away for savings or as a down payment on their homes as they should.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have this issue too.  I have to remind myself to fill up my Costco Generic Yeti knockoff with ice tea from the house before running errands rather than by a soft drink when I’m out.  Or to pack snacks for the kids in the diaper bag and not get drive-through.

But I’m working on it and take responsibility for my spending.

Coming from a Bank, this is good financial advice.

Coming in the form of a Tweet, this hits millennials the most since 40% of Twitter users are 18-29 years old.

Millennial snowflakes couldn’t take the criticism of their lifestyle so accused Chase of “poor shaming.”

The self appointed Millennial “Yassss queen” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez feel the need to chastise Chase.

You: Why is my balance so low?

Economists: Bc working Americans haven’t gotten a raise in 30 years despite unprecedented growth; & living costs have exploded.

Chase: Maybe if you skipped that Dunkin on April 22nd you‘d be able to afford your RX meds. That’s how that works right pic.twitter.com/i8bGowwomU

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 30, 2019

Except she’s wrong.

From The Wall Street Journal last year:

Wages Rise at Fastest Rate in Nearly a Decade as Hiring Jumps

And again from CNBC (MSNBC sucks but CNBC has good financial reporting):

Workers at the lower end of the pay scale finally are getting the most benefit from rising wages

The economy is booming.  The people suffering are the millennials who spent $200K on a gender studies degree and are the ones making $4 coffees for other millennials to show off on Instagram.

She can’t admit that though, because she needs people to focus on their non-poverty to push per socialism.

Remember, AOC is the woman who said she “never experienced American prosperity” as the daughter of an architect growing up in an upper middle class New York neighborhood.

As for her, a healthy young woman in her 30’s, her RX Meds are most likely birth control, which averages out of pocket $15/month.  So yes, if she skips one Dunkin a week, she’s got that covered.

Pretty much everything she said is wrong for the statistical majority of young Americans.

Chase is right and gave good advice.

The first rule when it comes to this kind of thing is “never apologize.”  They shouldn’t have to say sorry for giving sound financial advice.

Personally, I’d the bank to double down.

You: why is my bank account so low.
Bank account: because you owe a quarter of a million dollars for a degree that has you making lattes.
You: stop poor shaming me.
Bank account: you should be ashamed you got a Master of Arts in Social Justice from UC Berkeley.  

The situation in Venezuela has deteriorated.

Juan Guaidó is the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela and is recognized as acting President of Venezuela by the United States and some 50 other countries around the world, including most of South and Central America.

Nicolás Maduro has refused to step down after his election was declared illegitimate by the National Assembly of Venezuela according to the Venezuelan Constitution.

By every objectve measure, Maduro is a tyrant and a dictator.  Amnesty International has accused Maduro’s regime of “committing some of the worst human rights violations in Venezuela’s history.”  He has bankrupted Venezuela and reduced his people to eating garbage and starving to death.  He has armed thugs to crack down on his people and is responsible for over 8,000 extrajudicial killings of civilians.

Just yesterday the world watched as troops loyal to Maduro ran over protesters with armored vehicles.

So how has the Media and the Democrats in the United States responded to a dictator murdering his own people to maintain power?

Positively.

Here is CNN Newsroom Co-Anchor & CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto calling the US backing the legitimate President Juan Guaidó a coup.

Here is US Congressman from California Ro Khanna blaming Vice President Pence for the violence in Venezuela.

The Vice President has no place inciting violence in Venezuela. We cannot allow ourselves to contribute toward a civil war abroad. Instead, this is the moment for diplomacy and restraint. pic.twitter.com/A4ZPTPbUDX

— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) April 30, 2019

Here is Ben Rhodes, who worked with Obama to normalize relations with Raul Castro in Cuba and craft the terrorist supporting Iran Deal, unhappy with the men in charge of US relations Venezuela having a history of not being soft on dictators.

Here is Bernie Sanders, the thought leader of the Democrat Party refusing to condemn Maduro.

Bernie refuses to call for Maduro to step down, does not recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s leaderhttps://t.co/KvvdTJUlt9 pic.twitter.com/HYQDcGOJr5

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 21, 2019

The Left never met a dictator it didn’t like.  It is amazing watching them be so soft on Maduro as we watch the atrocities he has caused to that country in real time.

If they are so willing to support a mass murdering dictator in Venezuela because they like his socialist rhetoric, think about how they will view the imposition of tyranny in the US.

Hint:

Here is CNN’s Chris Cuomo defending Antifa, which is a group of violent socialist thugs, not terribly unlike those armed by Maduro to bust skulls on his behalf.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo says Antifa is “a good cause” pic.twitter.com/mCMgoyPszQ

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 30, 2019

For Venezuela’s opposition, dawn broke on Tuesday with a jolt of political lightning and an auspicious photo-op. Interim President Juan Guaidó, flanked by heavily armed soldiers and the country’s best known political prisoner, Leopoldo López, announced the time had come to oust Nicolás Maduro.
With the help of rebellious troops, Guaidó held out the promise that 20 years of single-party rule — first under Hugo Chávez and now Maduro — could end with a military-backed popular uprising.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNN that Maduro had even been prepared to flee — that he had a plane parked on the tarmac ready to take off to Cuba.

But as the day wore on, Guaidó’s army of defectors never appeared en masse. And rather than leading a colossal march on the Miraflores Presidential Palace, as some were hoping for, the push devolved into running and brutal street battles that left at least 60 wounded, according to local reports.

It seemed like Maduro’s ouster from Venezuela was imminent. What went wrong?

The answer is simple but the explanation is not.  Venezuelans do not understand the concept of uprising. It is not in the collective DNA. Venezuelans also have an ingrained teaching that violence is bad and it is used as shield to cover the other problem: Cowardice is not seen as a shameful thing but as a survival skill.  And they lack the stomach to do what needs to be done.

Venezuelans talk a great game. You see them in Twitter, and they are Cortez reincarnated ready to take the empire with a handful of fellas. But then when things fo down, when Evil goes out for a stroll. the talk ceases and they retreat to their little caves.

I love to give them shit in the Twitterverse. When they talk about how they are winning, I ask them about how many bodies of National Guard or National Police are stacked in the morgue and they suddenly go with the “This is not this kind of revolution” or our eternal favorite “Violence does not solve anything.” When I ask them about how many from the opposition end up in hospitals wounded or dead they get all babbly about sacrificing for the cause, of course it is OK as long as it is not their hides getting sutures.

And then, you have some who say they wish they have a gun so they could excise some justice against the regime’s goons. I tell them that despite the tough gun control law they have, guns can be found. I mean, the criminal sector has plenty of guns! I get told that they either do not want to deal with the bad guys or they can’t afford to buy a gun in the black market. I continue and tell them about not needing money to get a gun but maybe an ice pic or a very sharp Philips screwdriver.   After that go on with the story of the Liberator pistol and the strategy behind it.

Horrified and scared, they usually block me after that.

Not since the Independence from Spain in 1821, Venezuela had any popular uprisings. They were usually created by some local big guy in the Interior of the country, pissed off at something or other and decide to wear the hat of a Strongman (he was already a major local asshole) gather some soldiers with the promises of women, booze and gold and set off to conquer Caracas. If successful, he becomes “President” and the corrupt circle that covered the deposed Strongman is now cooing at his ears, fine women in between his legs and delightful spirits coursing down his throat while his pockets got stuffed. The little fellas that came with him get stuffed and return home with broken promises. Wash, Rinse, Repeat and you have the next Strongman.

By the time the 20th Century arrives, people are sick of the failures of the uprisings and don’t follow anymore. By now, there is a strongly Prussian-trained military and officers who seek the highest rank possible: Comandante en Jefe de las Fuerzas Armadas, a title that can only be bestowed to the President. So they gather loyal troops and knock down the jackass in the palace and call themselves Presidents.

This is pretty much what happens for most of the 20th century till the 60’s when democracy finally wins and only because the Military was continuously bribed to remain faithful to the process. The couple of coup attempts that happened during that time were put down hard, but unfortunately, sometimes not hard enough or somebody would have shot Hugo Chavez in the back of the head when he tried his revolucion armada.

To make a short story long, Chavez went the democratic way and won. Took his time and did a Soft Stalin with the armed forces by retiring the upper echelon that did not swear allegiance to him and brought up totally useless officers who swore for the Revolution and are being paid Oh-So-Very-Well. Add to that Cuban Security services keeping an eye and ear on everybody and what you have is both a population without testicles and armed forces officers who will not risk death or loss of privileges, specially in these hungry times.

Guaido bet on the soldiers rebelling. He is an idiot because that does not happen in the Venezuelan Army. Yes they are hungry, but it is easier and less riskier to sell grenades and ammo to the criminals than take up arms against their superiors. Most of the officers would not risk their access to military supermarkets and food for their families and the Civilian population is unarmed and without the testicular fortitude to actually go to the mattresses.

Guaido also gambled on the civilians and in part it paid off with a small crowd showing up. But when armored cars started to play Death Race 2000 with the attendants and Less Lethal nd plain Lethal ammunition started to fly, a lot of them remembered they had other things to do somewhere else fast.

I still cannot understand how Guaido and the Opposition made this obvious blunder, unless they were looking for a Lusitania moment trying to bring the US Military into the conflict. I may be totally off the mark, but I just don’t like the bastard: he is a Socialist Light which means he won’t get anything fixed and is willing that others take the hit.

The Opposition march allegedly prepared for today should be like any other march in the last decade: Useless waste of time. A day off walking and waving flags with occasional bouts of Colectivo violence.  Maduro will eventually leave, but God knows when and what Country without Extradition will take him.  About the only way he’ll move fast is with a full immunity deal from both Venezuela and the US so he can spend the rest of his life enjoying the billions he stole.

I know, it is a pessimistic outlook but I think close to what will happen.