Friday 31 January 2020

The Ten Failings of This Impeachment

1.  While on this hunt in most of 2018.....gazing in corners, and looking for the perfect event to impeach Trump....in the summer of 2019, the phone call to the Ukraine occurred, and the insider (maybe two to three of them) went to report the terrible thing that Trump did.  This became a four-piece puzzle (if there ever was a 3-year old kid puzzle....four pieces are enough to figure out and piece together). 

Sadly, they selected an event that really didn't have much 'meat on the bone', and for regular Americans....it was pretty sparse piece to 'chew upon'.

2.  Getting the TV audience interested.  Throughout the House 'event' and this Senate Impeachment hearing....the TV audience just never came through. 

For me....all total between the two hearings....I probably viewed around 80 man-hours, and will admit that bulk of that was wasted time, without much really learned.  I think most Americans felt that way, and just watched evening updates.

3.  Nadler and Schiff.  Nadler at age 72, is past prime age for lawyer-type work.  Schiff?  He demonstrated himself as a marginal lawyer (I know he came out of Harvard, but that doesn't mean that much).  Their skills in the House episode didn't impress me that much, and for the Senate part....they weren't the type that would have benefited the mission.

4.  The Mueller Expedition.  I think they were expecting some specially wrapped charge to come out of that, and Mueller failed to deliver.  All the insiders to Trump, who were supposed to bend over and cooperate in some way for Trump charges?  Either they didn't have much of anything, or they weren't going to cooperate.

5.  Pelosi.  At any point in the spring and summer of 2019.....she could have led the party onto more constructive accomplishments.  Nothing happened.  The Democratic Party chaotically waltzed around, and did most of nothing for all of 2019.  The public noticed this lack of accomplishment.

6.  Hunter Biden.  Who in the business world would go and put some idiot on a board, who knows literally nothing about the product or business?  Then you have this Ukraine investigation that falters, and Trump tries to revive it.....with no one from the House seeming to care about the chief star witness of the whole accusation against Trump.

7.  The lack of the 66 Senate votes.  There was never going to be 66, period.  Once you understood that, you knew this was not going to end well for the House members.

8.  The Sense of Timing.  Maybe there was no urgent need for timing, but you just continue to wonder about why now.

9.  All this Impeachment 'chatter' equaling more campaign donations to Trump?  Well....YEAH.  There's no doubt that he'll hit one-billion dollars shortly, and move on up to 1.5 billion by October.  Being helped by the Impeachment?  I hate to say it but yeah. 

10.  Finally, whether they like this or not.....the Democrats haven given well over 300 'clips' for campaign messages for this fall.  They've helped in ways that you cannot imagine. 

If I Ran the US Election Business

My ten suggestions:

1.  I'd eliminate all debates until February of the election year, and only allow each party a max of two debates.

2.  I'd start the primary season in April and limit the entire primary across the US to four weeks....ending by mid-May.

3.  The convention business would start in mid-June....with both political parties conducted during the same week. 

4.  The full-up election period would be 1 July to election day (early November).

5.  I'm eliminate national debates as they exist today, and simply pass ten questions to the two key candidates, allowing them to comment for five minutes to each.  They'd have the questions five days prior.

6.  I'd dismiss Congress from work as of the final six weeks of the campaign, and order all of them to return to their states.  Failure to comply....dock their pay. 

7.  I'd cut all TV political chatter for 24 hours prior to the election day.

8.  If I found anyone who'd voted twice or more in a single election....they'd lose their election capability for the remainder of their life, and I'd send them onto a state prison for a minimum of twelve months.

9.  I'd move election day to a Sunday.

10.  Finally, I'd mandate that no national TV coverage on election evening start until 10 PM (Eastern Standard Time). 

Is the Doomsday Clock 'Fake'?

Well....yeah.

I had a college professor years ago spend twenty minutes explaining the clock and the general hype behind it.  Some military guy in the class asked how you can whomp the clock to advance 10 seconds, or fall back 60 seconds.  The professor simply said that it wasn't a real clock, and was supposed to be some 'message'.  Then the student commented....what if people didn't get the message or didn't care to hear the message.  That was the general end of that discussion topic.

The problem here, in modern times....is that mullah from Iran, or nutcase from Pakistan....could interrupt the whole doomsday discussion, and announce that they had a message from God to move with a nuke bomb event. 

It's a total waste of time to pretend the clock has significance....if wild unplanned events are now possible. 

Tuesday 28 January 2020

Bernie and 2,268

For Bernie Sanders to walk into the Democratic convention, and win on the first round....avoiding the brokered convention deal and 'special delegates?  He needs 2,268 votes from the primary system. 

He would need roughly 30 states (Hillary won 34 states and had 2,842 delegate votes). 

The odds here?  Out of the first four states currently....Iowa and New Hampshire are figured to Bernie-win situations.  From Super-Tuesday, I can count around seven states that Bernie ought to win.  I won't say this is guaranteed....but if he could pull out an Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri win....his odds start improving in a big way.

What hurts in this 2020 Democratic Primary period is the apparent lack of enthusiasm.  Maybe you can blame this on the debates, or just poor candidates. 

So what happens if Bernie is the first round winner?  I think a lot of normal Democratic voters are going to pause and open up a bottle of Jack Daniels......trying to see how they could agree with Bernie and his agenda.

The debates with Trump?  I think Trump would beg for debates like this....to discuss capitalism and socialism. 

So settle back and watch for 2,268 delegates. 

Saturday 25 January 2020

The 38-Percent Crowd

I saw this mentioned this morning.....38-percent of Americans are unhappy with the way that the President (Trump) is handling the economy. 

So you sit there and think about this.

My brother would be consumed with economic news and almost teary-eyed with the current results of the economy.  And by teary-eyed.....it'd require him to say that things just haven't been this good since the 1950s.

I sat and pondered over the 38-percent thing, and then came to realize......some folks are thinking that that even this era.....just isn't good enough.  These are the folks who think we can achieve one-percent unemployment, get CD-levels back up to 7-percent, and find some way to afford $8,000 vacations to Aruba every year. 

Here's the thing....we've only scratched the surface of the Trump economy for 3 years.  To be honest, we need year four to year eight....to reach the level where the 38-percent folks would finally get weepy-eyed and actually drinking cocktails nightly like the 1920s era. 

The Bernie Crowd

Someone did a survey and found that around 53-percent of folks who say they are for Bernie.....will not be agreeable with anyone from the Democratic Party in November, if Bernie is not the chosen 'one'.

A mess?

Well....if you sit and think about it.....the type of characters from the past thirty years of politics....were anything but similar to Bernie. 

Mostly from the northeast and northwest of the US.....Bernie took around 13-million votes in the primary.  I won't suggest similar numbers like this in 2020, but he's likely to take a minimum of seven million votes. 

If 3.5 million of those walked away from the Democrats in 2020?  It's a problem, and really forces up the scenario where Trump could win all fifty states. 

Friday 24 January 2020

Script Idea

I'm thinking of writing this script for a TV movie.  So this is the idea.

You have some country that got into a fairly bogus civil war and ended up breaking up. 

The country surviving is so bad off, that they've got natural gas issues, and this other 'rich' nation decides to fund them for a billion dollars....but they can't give the money to the country.....they have to give it to some company which has a history of corruption.

As this discussion comes up about the billion....out of nowhere will come this guy with no real knowledge of natural gas, but the host company decides to hire him as a board member (80,000 dollars a month). 

Things proceed, except some idiot prosecutor gets into the middle of this, and threatens to ask questions.....but he gets fired.  Mostly because the new board member guy's father is a high-up guy in the rich country's government.

Months pass, and a new government arrives. 

This new President calls up the President of this other poor-off country and things start to fall apart.

Then some legal stuff starts. 

I haven't decided on the ending yet, but I'm thinking this is a pretty good Jerry Lewis-type movie script. 

Thursday 23 January 2020

Impeachment: Day Two

This AM, I got up and watched around 60 minutes of highlights from day two of the Impeachment 'series' (I'd almost refer to it as a TV series).

Day two was softer for some older folks in the Senate.....with it ending around 10 PM locally (taking roughly 8 hours).  So you add it up.....the old Senators have to walk back to their office, and get their jackets.  Along the way....their staff folks will chat, and they won't officially leave the building until 11:30.  You can figure 30 to 45 minutes (no traffic) to get home, and then make a sandwich (it's awful late to eat a real dinner).  Toss back three shots of something, and finally be asleep around 1:50 AM.  By 7:00 AM, they will have to be up, sipping coffee, and getting into some frame of mind.  Yep, marginally five hours of sleep.

The two things that I took out of this?

1.  A bit of chatter from Schiff about the Russian threat.  It wasn't clear about how this threat would work, or which Russians (the KGB, the Oligarchs, or just pain-in-the-ass hacker-kids) were responsible. 

This chat has often been used over the past three years, but what always bothers me about this suggestion.....if you take it real....could it be that Bill Clinton, Bush II, and Barak Obama....were all brought to power by the Kremlin or Putin?  Yes, were we already duped by Russia into accepting marginal performers? 

I know....Democrats hate that scenario because it opens up a vast discussion, but where exactly this threat started is a problem, if you accept Schiff's idea.

2.  The integrity of the 2020 election and trustworthiness is marginal....so says Schiff. 

How would you relieve the public's questions?  Well....you'd go and shutdown all political chatter on social media for three months prior to the election.  You'd carve the length of the 18 months spent on election games down to three total months.  That would mean that the primary, convention and national campaign would start around the end of July, and conclude by early November.  Finally, you'd mandate a national ID card....free-of-charge for everyone, and mandate it's use for voting. 

Instead, Schiff just wants the President to be moved out, and then integrity will just happen overnight. 

So I come to this final view....it basically took 24 hours to bring the marginal two-star show to a one-star level, and make an episode of Honey-Boo-Boo seem appealing.

Luckily, because of McConnell's rules....the cameras can't focus on Senators bored out of their mind, and sitting there at their table....drawing images of monkeys, naked women, and race cars. 

The idea of six weeks of this?  No....you can now forget about that, and I would start to suggest that TV audiences will lessen by the middle of next week....to half the number of day one.  This might be over in the third week, as journalists realize there is no great public interest. 

Wednesday 22 January 2020

Commune Living?

So I noticed this page four type story...over this commercial company....out of southern California, wanting to deliver a brand new idea.

The concept here is that you'd build this big 'dorm' facility for adults, which would be charging rent of a much lesser scale. 

How big of a dorm?  Well....they are suggesting a hundred people could be housed in this dorm of building, but then they kinda suggest that they all need a particular view of such living (a 'mindset').

The lack of privacy?  In most of the scenarios that I've seen over the past year, with various groups trying this concept....there are 'pods' in each warehouse type situation where your bed resides, and the rest of the area is simply open space with couches, chairs, and dining tables.

I have this opinion over 'group-live' (similar to 'group-think), in that you could make this work as long as all members were marginal drinkers (never getting drunk), non-druggies, and without any paranoid schizophrenic behavior.  They'd also have to be like-minded on politics, sports, agenda items, and desire to be around groups of people for the majority of their 'life-plan'.

Trying to make this work in the military, with barracks?  I always noted continual disagreements and personality conflicts, and the Air Force eventually went to the simple plan of one-guy per room.....to avoid dealing with this constant bickering. 

Long-term success with this idea?  Maybe in the area of San Francisco and LA....you might be able to put up five to ten of these structures in each city, and find people who are desperate to live in a $300 a month group situation for a year or two.....to get around the high cost of living in urbanized California.  Guys and gals will do 'stupid' things....when faced with unbearable costs. 

The odds that you could run such an operation with 40 anti-Trump folks and 20-pro-Trump folks in the warehouse?  Virtually zero. 

Workable in other states?  I have my doubts.  If you arrived in Huntsville, Alabama and tried to interest folks in this....the response would almost laughed upon.  For what you'd charge for a 'spot'.....the guy would respond that acquiring an RV and parking it in a trailer park.....would offer more privacy and be almost the same cost factor.

So I'll predict this comes around and survives for a couple of years, until some episode occurs with a major brawl, and some idiot suing his fellow occupants for insults or assault-action. 

Five Take-Aways From Day One of the Impeachment

I've watched around 75 minutes of clips from yesterday....early here in the AM.  So five things that I kinda noted:

1.  All this effort by Senator Schumer....trying to add 'rules' with the amendment process?  He's bluffing his way with a lousy 'hand of cards' and doesn't seem to have great luck with the extra rule business.

2.  The suggestion of giving the Senators more subpoena power (another Schumer idea) on White House documents?  It's going nowhere, and some folks point out that it's a strong indicator of the House sending over an incomplete package, which simply wasn't ready for action.  There was homework required, and the House screwed up.

3.  The suggestion of hoax material in the House package?  Well, it's going to be a problem if this is proven.  It'll just be another reason to end the whole thing in two weeks.

4.  The fact that the first day session at midnight is still going on?  I would imagine that more than forty of the Senators are tired, and they've not going to be capable of handling this type of environment for more than two weeks, before their wit and sharpness disappears.  The fact that most of these Senators are over the age of 60?  It just adds problems.

5.  Bringing Bolten into the mess?  Maybe they think they have some 'power'....but the President still maintains executive power and will 'trump' them on the passage of this idea.  I have my doubts that Bolten will be appearing.

Monday 20 January 2020

Explaining the Movie 'Parasite'

First, it's a South Korean production, and it's not likely to be shown much in most theaters around the country.....however, it's now in the hyped-up group for best movie of the year for the Oscars.

The basic script?

There's this South Korean family (father, mother, son and daughter) who are on the bottom level of society in South Korea.  They live in a basement of a highly urbanized neighborhood, and are marginally 'making it'.

One day, junior gets this tip on a job....a tutor job.  It's for a rich and affluent family.   Junior has to go and pretend a lot of things, but it's part of the family tradition of surviving.

The storytelling art is stretched a good bit because they introduce you to this somewhat dysfunctional rich family, and their housekeeper. 

As time goes by, Junior sees a chance to bring his sister into the game....also pretending that she has expertise to fit some role in the rich affluent family. 

Along the way, they see a chance to edge the housekeeper out (getting her fired), and then the mother of the marginalized family enters the scene as the new housekeeper. 

The father? Well, the son figures a way to get the rich family's chauffeur driver fired, and so dad shows up and becomes the new chauffeur. 

So, they are all doing well, and fitting into this scheme.  Then, the curve occurs.  The rich family goes off for a weekend, and the marginalized family decides to party it up at the 'mansion'.

The party goes well, until the old fired housekeeper arrives.  In a matter of ten minutes....this movie changes gears and goes to the weirdest unexpected thing....the modern house has a bomb-shelter in the basement, which the rich affluent family is totally unaware of.  The housekeeper is aware of it.....and there sits the 'secret' to the whole story....the house-keeper's husband. 

This guy has gotten himself into trouble and has had to disappear, and the old housekeeper has kept him there, in a secluded room.....feeding him.  There is no exit out of the room.....unless the outside person moves a cabinet. 

Things go downhill at this point, with a fight between the housekeeper and husband....versus the marginalized family.

I won't go into great detail about the ending, but it's a pretty dramatic ending....with more than a couple of folks dead. 

With twists and turns....I regard Parasite as one of the best stories of the past twenty years. 

The 70-Billion Promise?

What is Bloomberg's announced campaign 'promise'?  As president, he would funnel 70-billion dollars to a blacks-only economic program.  There are some twists to it....the money ONLY goes to the top 100 black neighborhoods of America, and there would have to be a black-run neighborhood 'equality' office in his section chosen.....to help provide information to a White House manager who would be the actual person with the bundle of money to spend.

If you were in the 101st or 129nd black neighborhood?  You would be screwed.

Who would form up the black-run neighborhood 'equality' office?  That's a mystery item in this and you can figure that various people will claim the title, and infighting will occur with one group fighting the other to be the 'equality' manager. 

Frequent trips to DC?  I would take a guess that each top 'equality' manager will get a free trip to DC for five days....each quarter, and mostly sit around in some conference room to gab with other equality managers.  A 'friend' authorized to accompany the equality manager?  More than likely.

The odds that 25 billion of this money is totally wasted?  It's a fairly high chance.

Me running this?  I would just cut a check for each black adult (over 18) for $500 a year for four years.  Just hand them the money.....rather than bringing this stupid equality manager corruption scheme into being. 

Added to this promise by Bloomberg......there would be an additional one-million black homeowners.  There weren't a lot of details over how they'd make this work.  One might assume that HUD would be given more cash, and told to go out and find blacks....lower the down-payment structure and ease those blacks easily into the heavily financed home. 

The odds of a 2008 'meltdown' occurring again, and throwing these blacks out of their newly acquired homes?  I'd say there's a fair chance of this happening.  The potential for the home-gimmick to also be tied to equality managers?  It's best not to bring up this possibility. 

Then he said this.....somehow....someway....there would be 100,000 new black-owned small business operations.  How?  That was left entirely blank.  My humble guess is that for government services and procurement....there would be some forcing nature put upon government operations to buy on x-amount of services from black-owned businesses, period.  The fact that you might have a company rigged up to appear black, with a black 'CEO' but be entirely owned by some Latino or white guy?  Don't bring that up.

Some blacks will latch onto this.....hyping the just-nature of this deal.  The problem is....for decades, in highly urbanized areas (Baltimore is a good example)....literally billions have been delivered in each decade, and it's basically failed to make any difference or change.  This seventy-billion?  It'd quietly disappear, if Bloomberg is the President, and show no real change in the end, if you regard past history as being reliable. 

Sunday 19 January 2020

Was Clinton's Impeachment Historic?

In simple terms.....NO.

It was basically a case where he got stupid.....getting oral sex from some intern, and some people figured you could build some case up which depended upon a Q and A session where you were under oath.  If he had any 'wit' or legal knowledge....he would have said that he had no requirement to make a statement under oath.....about sex. 

While all of this was going on....then it kinda fell into the news business that Bill had sexed up with more than eight different women.  Did it really matter?  No.  Had Hillary Clinton been a normal wife (like VP Gore's wife).....then things would have been different, and Hillary would have walked out (like Gore's wife).

The Republicans in this case?  They never really expected a conviction, and this was more about weakening Bill Clinton for historical reasons. 

The comical side of this....which people seem to forget?  This started on the 19th of December, and virtually the entire Senate was forced to skip Christmas holidays for that year (it didn't officially end until 12 Feb the next year. 

Why Hillary didn't leave?  I think she considered Bill as the golden-ticket for her arriving in 2008, and gaining the Presidency.  If you felt Bill was wonderful....you'd be all thrilled for Hillary.  I know....it's silly but this was logical in the 1990s.

Here we are, twenty years, and it's payback time.  And the odds that some Democrat will face impeachment around 2035 to 2040?  I'd give it a 99-percent chance. 

All of this should bring you back and wondering about JFK, Roosevelt, Hoover, and a dozen-odd Presidents from the past, and if they could survive a impeachment like this? 

Trailer Story

This week, California's governor (Newsom) went out and did a public event to talk over his acquisition of 100 FEMA trailers which are being brought into the Oakland area, for the homeless crowd.  Cost to  the state?  It appears the acquisition is near zero, but whatever installation or placement charges come up....it's on California's tab (figure $150,000 to $200,000).

I sat and pondered over this.

For those old enough to remember Hurricane Katrina.....FEMA trailers were the original solution there, with thousands bought.  Then, came this issue of mold and funny plastic scent. 

These FEMA trailers are typically a cheaper RV trailer 'pick', costing around $12,000 to $15,000 and big enough for a max of four people (really, to be honest, two is the max you ought to force into the trailer).

Living in one full-time?  They might last four to six years, before you start to complain about leaks, structural issues, etc.  But throw the idea of giving it to a doper, or some paranoid schizophrenic guy?  It'll either be destroyed in three years, or turn into some kind of hazardous waste 'zone' (requiring $10k of state money to dispose of it in some massive way). 

Looking over this, I just have this idea that it's going to be an interesting 'reality-type' show.  Oakland is stuck....they have to find some vacant lot, and run power and water to thirty-odd RV trailer, parked on some rough gravel.  A couple of benches will be put up, with a cheapo water fountain, and a dumpster for hypodermic needles.  Once a week, an ambulance will pull up and pick some dead overdosed guy.....with the city bringing a new resident to the empty trailer. 

It's just a solution that will beg for new and fresher problems. 

The 'Losers' From this Impeachment?

About a month from now.....you and I could sit down in a pub, and put a pitcher of beer on the table....to discuss the aftermath of the impeachment.  The losers?

1.  Hunter Biden.  The guy was never qualified to be on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company. 

2.  Whichever idiot dreamed up the Ukrainian 'gift-money' for natural gas development.  We may never know which idiot it was, but it'll be readily apparent that the money just went into a dark pit, and disappeared. 

3.  Joe Biden.  All they have to do is run the video that Joe says he screwed the Ukrainian prosecutor, and then leave the 'message' at that.  Joe does his own damage, and can't really go and explain the situation....if he's not invited.

4.  Nancy Pelosi.  For all the talk and chatter....what she delivered was a marginalized impeachment package, and utterly dependent upon the Ukrainian threat by President Trump.

5.  Shifty and his team.  After they've been 'corrected' around the 40th time by either McConnell or Justice Roberts....their enthusiasm will start to dry up. 

6.  The news media.  Maybe they can keep people pumped-up for the first week....but I suspect at the conclusion of the second week....around one-third of viewers will have turned off the TV, and simply limited themselves to a nightly 8-minute update.  Changing opinions for voters?  No....basically nothing will have changed, and that will be the shocker at the conclusion.

7.  Warren and Sanders.  Basically, in the heat of the build-up for the Iowa Caucus....both are going to sit in DC, and waste three weeks of time there.  Their campaign is finished. 

So the only gainers?  Bloomberg and Mayor Pete.  That's it. 

Thursday 16 January 2020

Odds On Favorite? Joe?

If you go around the Vegas betting crowd, the current betting scene is that Joe Biden will be the nominee from the convention and primary period.

I was kinda shocked reading over the whole story.  Conventional wisdom says that Joe Biden might be significantly 'hurt' if the impeachment occurs and he gets a call to be a witness.  But maybe they can avoid that....end the impeachment, and life goes on.

A thrilling last hundred days before the election?  No.  I would review the scene, and that final campaign period....suggesting that it'll be 75-percent of the thrill factor from the 2016 election....which was bad enough already for Hillary Clinton to lose. 

Who would be Joe's VP?  I'm predicting Stacey Abrams (of Georgia fame). 

Improving over the Hillary action of 2016?  No.  I'd give a minimum of thirty states over to Trump....maybe even taking two of the Hillary-win states over as well (New Hampshire and Nevada). 

Wednesday 15 January 2020

After Watching Last Night's Democratic Debate

Altogether, I probably viewed around 35 to 40 minutes of it.  I'll make three observations:

1.  Moderator-wise, it was probably the worst 'team' that I've seen yet in the past twelve months.  It simply convinces me of dumping moderators entirely.

2.  I thought at some point, Bernie Sanders really took some heavy hits, and might be fairly damaged at this point.  The idea of Bernie taking at least eight win-states in the primary season?  I suspect that idea is gone. 

3.  Boredom.  Maybe it's the number of these debates performed so far, but on the boredom scale.....this was a perfect '10'. 

Sunday 12 January 2020

The Better and Worse of Candidates For Trump

If you added up the five key political figures at this point (Mayor Pete, Joe Biden, Bloomberg, Senator Warren, and Bernie Sanders), I would rate them in this fashion against Trump.

1.  Bernie Sanders.  By far, the one that would be purely capitalism versus socialism, and I would suggest that Trump might be able to hustle up forty-five states on the 'win' side.

2.  Senator Warren.  Virtually everything she wants to talk about....has a price-tag attached.  So taxes would have to rise.  On the advertising front for October, she'd make it pretty easy for Trump to get 30 to 35 states.

3.  Mayor Pete.  Trump would basically talk non-stop over Mayor Pete's resume.  Again, I'd give Trump the call for 30 to 35 states.

4.  Joe Biden.  Joe has the resume, and can appeal to working-class voters.  Joe's problem is age, and sometimes suggesting things that are a bit crazy.  In a debate, Joe is Joe's worst nightmare.  Trump would face a Hillary-like force and probably only win 30 to 32 states.

5.  Finally, Bloomberg.  Bloomberg would not appeal to the Bernie-socialism voters, or the Senator Warren crowd.  Bloomberg's past behavior with women, and paying them off...would be dragged out.  All things considered....I think Bloomberg could take Florida, and make this a 29-state win for Trump....meaning it'd be a lot closer but Trump would likely still win.

Saturday 11 January 2020

Crazy

"People experiencing mental health problems are more likely to be delusional. 
People who are delusional are more likely to be experiencing mental health problems."

I saw this quote today, and it's stuck in my mind for the past couple of hours.

Around the mid-70s to mid-90, I could probably walk around for an entire day, and run into one single person who had some type of behavioral problems.  Today?  I'd take a guess that in an average week....I'll bump into twenty-odd people with either stress-related issues, delusional problems, or just drugged-up situations.

You see it in airports, grocery stores, and subway stations.  You see it with young people and old folks.  You see it while waiting in line at McDonalds. 

It kinda makes me wonder.....what transpired after the 1990s....to  trigger this level of crazy behavior?

Wednesday 8 January 2020

Time Magazine Story

Time magazine, which I really haven't purchased or read through much over the past twenty years (probably fewer than three times....mostly via airline flights where it was reading material)....has gotten itself into a bit of amusement today.

Somehow, the magazine decided that they really needed to go and explain significance of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani's killing....in kid-talk. 

Yes, it was an entire article designed for parents....to sit down and talk over the incident with their 8-year old to 12-year old kid.

Yes, it was designed in some way to be a guide.

The first problem to this is that they (the Time staff) assume that young kids watch the news.  Out of a hundred 10-year old kids....I might go and suggest that twenty percent might watch some news (more so for local news than national news), and the rest might catch their news via social media, or concentrate more on Hollywood or Kanye West-type news.

Then you assume that the kid asks dad right away....where is Iran, and dad is at a loss to find it on a map. 

Then you come to the issue of good guy versus bad guy.  Dad will sit there for a minute, then explain it's like Breaking Bad....where Walter White was really both a good guy and bad guy.  The kid will ask....isn't this like wrestling....where a bad guy turns good guy, and eventually reverts back to bad guy status?  Dad will suggest it's more like the Iron Sheik of the 1980s/1990s.  Junior will come back and ask if the 'Foreign Legion' (Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff) were mostly bad guys, and dad will study that for a minute....to respond 'yes'.   But he'll add....they were such good bad-guys. 

Finally, you come to the question...will the kid take the position of President Trump?  That's probably what worries these Time magazine journalists the most. 

This brings me to the final bit of pondering....is it possible that virtually all news is designed for 10-year old kids, and we adults are treated in the same way? 

Tuesday 7 January 2020

Cultural Sites Discussion

The topic has come up in the past few days....since Trump mentioned 'cultural sites' are on some target list, for Iran.  So what are cultural sites?

Well, it's a loosely defined term.  For a target specialist....you break things down into a couple of categories, and cultural sites are usually (99.99-percent of the time) on a forbidden list. 

Examples?  Religious, historical (castles, and famous landmarks for examples), and educational sites (university campus areas). 

Do you really need to even consider cultural sites?  In terms of value?  There usually rate as a very low priority with nothing to be gained....even if they were a target.  It'd be like aiming at the Chancellor building on some US campus, or some statue item (like the Jefferson Memorial). 

Normally, you'd look for petroleum sites, bridges, military installations, TV/Radio stations, airport runways, port facilities, and radar sites. 

So all of this Trump-chatter is mostly BS?  Yep. 

Lets be honest as well....in the whole of Iran, there's probably over 500 target-rich points that you could be on some list and make life pretty miserable for folks (like targeting an electrical generator site, or some railway depot, or some airport runway). 

Iran and Funerals

From what the news folks say....there's a minimum of 32 Iranians dead, and wounded folks going up to around 200.  Whether you can regard the information as correct or not....is another story.  Maybe it's true....maybe it's double that.  But here's the thing about funerals of key-players in Iran.  You can go back to 5 June 1989 and the funeral of the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and note the trouble they had at that funeral, and you'd think here with this Suleimani funeral, and they'd apply 'lessons learned'.

So to retell the first attempted funeral on 5 June 1989.....you have to put youself in the middle of Tehran, and the utter shock that the Gran Ayatollah was dead.  He died on the evening of the 3rd, and they spent the whole day on the 4th preparing the funeral business.

What occurred on the 5th....is that the funeral parade had been drafted up and what they weren't prepared for....were the two-plus million local folks who came out.  Eventually, the procession through the streets idea....was given up.  They brought in a US-made Huey, and loaded the coffin on it, and took off to the graveyard.

The Revolutionary Guard folks were supposed to provide a secure fence area this area, and miserably failed. 

The Huey?  Somehow, the pilot found an area to land and cut the motor.....with the Revolutionary Guards supposed to come over and pick up the coffin, to do a walk around the graveyard....as part of some ceremony.

All 'hell' broke loose, and thousands poured into the area surrounding the coffin-team, and then.....a couple slipped, and the coffin fell....tossing the Grand Ayatollah (in a wrap) out on the ground. 

Crowds rushed up and started trying to 'touch' the dead guy.  Yes, as weird as it sounds.....thousands made the rush over. 

The Revolutionary Guards were in a mess, and somehow, a couple of them were able to push folks back, and get the body back into the box.  Someone in charge realized the mess, and ordered a path to the chopper to be accomplished, and the rotors began to turn.  Yep, they threw the coffin back on and left for a secure area.

The funeral?  Halted for that day.  Starting early on next day....a disinformation episode occurred, telling the public one thing, when they were going to do it drastically different.

This time, they'd loaded the guy on a airline shipping container (all steel) and with reinforcements....were able to bury him.

How many died from day one and two?  Unknown.  No one ever demanded accountability over the business.  It might have been hundreds....or perhaps just dozens. 

Lessons learned?  No....it appears that the same idiots who planned the one episode....were around to plan the second episode. 

Monday 6 January 2020

Ricky May Have a Point

Having watched bits and pieces of the Golden Globes show and the amount of jabs that Ricky Gervais dished out.....I come to this topic that pops into my head about every two weeks....getting lectured by some dimwit.

I think up until age 30....around the early 1990s....I reached the point where lectures were worthless.  Maybe one out of ten lectures had some value, and occasionally (that one out of forty)....was a five-star lecture worth listening to.

Over the past decade, I just can't think of many lectures that stand out.  I've even gotten use to using the mute-button and ensuring that some CNN dimwit, or some intellectual with a lost sense of 'worth' don't get my attention.

I kinda agreed with Ricky....I really don't need some Hollywood actor, or some stage-theater gal to give me their lecture on things.  It's the same way with ministers trying to tell me bad thoughts about SUVs.....anti-capitalists telling me about better lifestyles if I oppose capitalism....or politicians telling about the necessity to pay more taxes so they can gift the money back to me later (maybe).


Sunday 5 January 2020

Once the US Leaves Iraq (Not If)

With the Iraqi congressional system passing the vote to show the door to the American military.....my humble guess is that it'll be done rather quickly (maybe in less than two weeks).

The collapse of the Iraqi government?  Well, I would anticipate that various pro-Iran groups will come calling and a complete shutdown of the current government will happen within three months of the Americans (and everyone else) being gone.  Mass chaos, civil conflict, pro-Iran versus anti-Iran religious groups.

The potential split of Iraq?  It goes to three key groups: Shiite (the southern-eastern zone...maybe 25-percent of the nation), Kurdish (the northeastern 10-percent of the country bordering Turkey and Iran), and the northwestern 20-percent belonging to Sunni Muslims.  The remaining 40-percent?  Mostly desert, bordering Saudi Arabia with oil wells.  None of the three groups really play into this region.

It is conceivable that Saudi Arabia would care about this one-third southern district bordering them, and would try to create a military force to cordon off the area.

Oil access?  The chief tanker point is down in the south, next to Kuwait.  That operation would rapidly shut down.

Both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia having worries?  Well, here's the thing....Iran and Iraq have never really recovered from the war period of the 1970s.  The US might have provided a significant number of SUVs and APCs, but there is no offensive capability in Iraq, and if you divided things up among three groups....it makes them more or less.....a zero threat player.

Iran?  They'd take the situation and quickly pump up the Shiite folks (their friends) and try to cause unstable conditions for the Kurds (who used to like the Americans until we left Syria), and the Sunnis (pro-Saudi Arabia).

By mid-2020.....I would suggest that Iraq is mostly finished off and three different nations will come to exist.  For the Kurds....it'll provide this doorway for a nation to finally exist.  Sunni-land being a US protected area?  Maybe.

All of this leading back to the silly Iran-Iraq War of 1980, the lack of resources for Saddam's crew after the war, the threat of invasion to get the neighbors in the Middle East to rebuild Saddam's Army?  Yep....all leading back to that era.  Toss in the idea of conquering Kuwait as a stupid move, the US-Iraq War, and the eventual second war (where Saddam was taken down).

If Saddam were around today?  Virtually everyone connected to the pro-Iran lobby group would be put on notice and if they failed to grasp the threat....would disappear overnight.

The odds of some targets being struck by the US as Iran attempts one or two stupid 'pay-back' situations?  It's more than likely and Iran will go and beg off of Russia to get the latest in defense toys....with what little cash that they have left.

Saturday 4 January 2020

MCGA (Make California Great Again) Strategy

For the past month, I've watched a number of video pieces by people who confirmed that they are packing and leaving California.  Some did it in 2017....some in 2018....some last year, and some are discussing their 2020 plan for leaving.  Their most favored spot?  If they were retirement age.....most left for Arizona or Nevada.  The rest were aiming for Texas or southern states.  If you use the data for the past decade.....five-million California folks have packed and left the state.

So I think it's time to play the political strategy and do a Trump theme for 2020's election.  Yes, Make California Great Again (MCGA).

I would lead off with two introductions to California:

1.  Have a 60-second advertisement with video clips of the 1960s California image and what brought so many people to come into the state.

2.  Have a 60-second advertisement piece with people in their 60s who remember the old California and their heartfelt love of the state.

Then I would run twenty advertisements, one coming out every two weeks, and showing the 2020 image of the state.  I'd bring Kanye West, various Latino Republicans, and show the aspirations of people to help the state recover. 

Yes, I know....it's crazy.  But you don't have to pay TV stations any longer to run these commercials.  You run your own video service, and let people find it via Facebook or Twitter. 

Friday 3 January 2020

The Funny Thing Over the Iranian Dead General

Iranian General Qassem Soleimani had zero reasons to travel beyond the border of Iran.  He could have arranged for various meetings within Iran, or chatted with people via phone or even Skype.  So this necessity to be in Baghdad?  It really didn't exist.

In his mind, he had absolute run of the system, and didn't have a single worry about anyone.....not a single Iraqi, or American GI....was going to be a threat to his safety. 

So you go down this list of bad-guys who were in this SUV convey, and it's a whose-who of dead or capture VIP bad-guy players in the region. 

This being some type of meeting with Soleimani and his 'team'?  That's really the only reason to have done this....but it's a meeting that you could have accomplished in Iran.  Why bother making this a open failure? 

How to play this out if you were Iraq?  You'd ask the question of who ordered the general to come into Iraq....name the Mullah. 

Wednesday 1 January 2020

Fifteen Things About Trump's Economy

1.  Since day one of the Trump administration, seven million jobs have been added to the economy.  To put that into prospective.....it would mean that every single person in the state of Tennessee (including the aged, the kids, the mentally insane, and folks in prisons).....have been hired-up.  Note, since Tennessee has only 6.8-million.

2.  Back in 2016 (November), the total number of unemployed were around 7.4-million across the US.  If you use that number....we've basically taken more 95-percent of the unemployed of 2016, and put them to work.....whether they liked that idea or not.

3.  The rate of unemployed women?  Nationally, since 1954.....it's the lowest number of women unemployed.  Think about that.

4.  If you were a disability, but wanted to work?  The unemployment rate is the lowest for your category, since the 1950s. 

5.  If you had no high school diploma?  The unemployment rate is the lowest for your category, since the 1950s. 

6.  If you were a vet?  Your unemployment rate is currently lowest since the 1950s.

7.  Wage growth?  Since 2010.....it's at the fastest pace of any year in that decade.  But if you looked at actual numbers....3-percent a year is now the norm.

8.  Wage-levels for low-income people?  It's now (2019) rated as the fastest rising number....over all over groups. 

9.  Between two and three million Americans are now lifted out of poverty status since this Administration arrived.  If you were black or Latino in 2016 on poverty status.....your level is now in 2020 at the lowest level since they started collecting statistical data in the 1950s. 

10.  Approximately seven million Americans that were on food stamps in 2016.....are no longer qualified for them.....because they are making a decent wage. 

11.  With measurements on business optimism....there's a 35-year old record which was broken in 2018.....as owners and businessmen were at a massive 'high'. 

12.  Roughly 500,000 manufacturing jobs have been created out of thin air since November 2016.  Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama all said in strong words that these jobs were permanently lost and would never come back.  Well....they were wrong.

13.  ONE trillion dollars flowed back into the US from overseas, as the President and Congress delivered the tax break deal. 

14.  Almost 9,000 communities in the US have been designated as 'opportunity zones'.  The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council has taken on 175 actions to promote growth and investment into these zones.

15.  Within the tax reforms, the child tax credit has been doubled.  That means over $2k for families. 

Pelosi Impeachment Scenario #99

On the 4th of February.....roughly four weeks away, President Trump is slated to present a State of the Union message to the House/Senate. 

I think it's now possible that Nancy Pelosi will not hand the articles of impeachment over....until the morning of the 4th, to stage a chaotic moment that evening and hoping that Trump will go into some ballistic mode for the likely one-hour speech. 

Crazy to wait out another four weeks?  Yeah, I might agree to that.  But there's really not that many reasons to draw this out past the mid-January period. 

What Trump might do? 

If I were Trump and anticipating this to be the scenario....I'd come to announce around the last day of January (a Friday, the 31st).....I'd announce that a typed-up State of the Union message will be handed to the House at 7 PM on the 4th, and that as President.....I'm actually delivering the speech in some arena (maybe in a heavily Trump-voter state).....around real people. 

Then at the conclusion of this State of the Union speech....I'd announce that as soon as the Impeachment is concluded.....I'm making another speech over where things are going in 2020, with five impact areas that I'm demanding the House and Senate attend to, and that I'm going direct to your own districts during the year to talk about these national agenda items.   Either you get onboard, or I'll make you explain why you don't want these things as your goals.