What Putin Ought to Do

Just to really screw with the system.....he ought to go and offer up a live CNN interview, and in the middle of it.....admit that the KGB was given orders (by Putin himself) to screw with the American election system.  

Before the CNN journalist even has a chance to ask a question...Putin launches into the details.

In the fall of 2019, he asked the KGB about the best way to really screw up America, and their simple response was....find the right idiot, get him through the primary system, and use corrupt voting systems in various states to sideswipe the voting system....to defeat Trump.

Putin will grin and admit...he thought this was the craziest idea he'd ever heard of.

Then he'll go into the details.

The KGB knew that Joe Biden mental abilities were failing and he was the right person to stick with the primary win.  

The KGB also knew that the most dislikeable person of possibilities for VP under Biden....was Senator Harris.

So that was the system that they crafted this ingenious plan around.

The rest?  Child's work.....as Russian hackers hacked into American hackers, who hacked into Chinese hackers, who were hacking into voting system hackers.  "It was crazy" will be the Putin response here....a dozen-odd hackers building layer after layer of 'hack'.  

He would later tell the KGB chief.....this is crazy, no American is going to believe that Joe Biden got 20-million more votes than Barak Obama.  Furthermore, he'll add, no one will possibly believe from the news media that 160-odd million Americans voted in this election.  No one will believe that 400,000 dead people were put into the ballot system and vote in all fifty states.

The KGB chief?  He absolutely believed that they would all fall into this trap.

Resolving or fixing this?  Putin looks straight into the eyes of the CNN journalist....it'll destroy the whole fabric society....zero trust already with the Obama-FBI and it's fake Russia-Russia-Russia 2016 big-joke.  No American would ever trust in the voting mechanism again....Putin gleefully adds.  

Then Putin will add the final comment.  Punishing me?  You really think that anyone...either President Trump or President Biden will punish me?  That's really the biggest joke of all.  No one will touch Russia.

CNN walks out of the interview in total shock, and they vow not to release the interview.  Four hours later, via Twitter...the interview comes out in two-minute pieces from Russian operatives in the US.  As fast as the Chinese hackers try to take the interview down via Twitter....the Russia operatives put it right back into the system.  

The nation turns and asks the Republicans and Democrats if this is true, and they both kinda grin and suggest that maybe it was the Chinese, or those evil North Koreans at work.

At that point, you eyeball that bottle of 34-year old Scotch you have on the shelf, and pour yourself six shots of it.  As epic as the three episodes of Matrix was....this is ten times that epic, and twisting your brain in four separate directions.

Even if none of this was true....Putin's fu*king with your head and suggesting this....has blown the whole thing into a bigger mess.  

Just something to think about, and keep you up to 1 AM.....thinking and pondering.

The Division of Culture and Society in America

 There is a great book written by Joanne B. Freeman, entitled 'The Field of Blood' (2018).  $12 on Amazon as a e-read book.

Freeman discusses at length the thirty-year period prior to the Civil War (1860)....centering primarily upon Washington D.C.  

On my list of 100 must-read books by age 40....this book lays out the fundamental differences in people, and how technology (the telegraph, of all things) radically changed the news cycle, affected people in taking sides, and triggered a great part of the Civil War to occur.  

Once the smoke cleared in 1865....we were not the same nation.  It was not just slavery that fundamentally disappeared....it was a 'binding' (rope) that took disagreeable folks and dragged them toward a national center-point.

One can argue that as the 1990s and past twenty years came into play....cable TV  news arrived....the internet delivered the Huff-Post/Drudge....radio re-developed itself into talk-radio....social media arrived, and skepticism has attached itself to every corner of our humble life.

We are a divided people.  

Some of us can't attend family Thanksgiving dinners because the 'enemy' will be there.  

Some of us can't firmly plant ourselves at the local church anymore because we can't handle peer pressure or dramatic arguments over politics, the environment, or social causes (frankly, we just wanted dramatic talk about Moses, or some Jesus-chatter on reckless lifestyles when we attended church).

Some of us have found ourselves in dental chairs, with serious work about to start....with the dentist suddenly dragging up his pro-Hillary feelings and he's hoping you don't mind him letting you know his anguish. (that was me in 2002 in the dental chair, reassuring the dentist I was fake-fine with his chatter....it's hard to find a good dentist these days....you know)

Some of us long for the old days where idle chatter went to most UFO reports, the latest ZZ Top album, or the six essential problems of 'Return of the Jedi (1983).  Instead, these days....sitting at the local breakfast diner....your associate might bring up their fed-up nature of Fox News, their personal feelings over General Flynn, their frustration with ex-VP Cheney, their passion for Senator Chuck Schumer of NY state, or their belief that the Chinese are behind the election chaos of 2020.

Resolving this mess?  Next to impossible.  Antifa and BLM are ready to set fire to half the nation.  Destruction of the news media is currently underway.  And no one is that fired-up to say the next four years (either with Biden or Trump)....is going to be that great.

In simple terms, we are reaching the epic point where five or six mini-Americas need to exist, and regionalized governments make more sense.  

Folks in northern California will argue that they'd rather be separate from southern California, but they can't seem to find that dividing line or get the numbers to reach a second state.

Folks in Oregon see a fantasy idea now of sixty-percent of the state breaking off....joining Idaho.  

At least three additional states are in this break-off fantasy mode.  

Urban America?  It can't live any longer with rural America.

Covid-19 arriving to intensify this division?  No doubt.  

So I go back to this book (Field of Blood) and recommend a read.  It's a pretty harsh story laid out and literally hundreds of little stories bound into one book....how we logically needed a civil war to end the chaos of Washington D.C. in 1860.  

It's stupid to see this talk as accomplishing much of anything, but we seem to have a dividing line, and there's a serious division of society in the country.  And our skeptical nature has reached a point of no return.  

Time Magazine's Man of the Year?

 Joe Biden. 

End of story.

The Next 2.5 Weeks

 As things look today?

Six states are stumbling around now with cases going to court (Minn, Georgia, Penn, AZ, Wisconsin, Michigan).  In the case of Nevada, at least 13k registered folks who aren't listing a sex or birth-date.....which will draw some attention but likely to take a full year to clear this matter.  

The general expectation?  In the case of Penn....the state legislature will probably disqualify the votes and pursue their own electors....which will be challenged to the Supreme Court.  

From the other five, these will simply move onto the Supreme Court.

Trump merely needs to disqualify three of the six, and the Electoral College is cancelled out with no winner.

A harsh reality to come?  If Joe Biden isn't elected in the Electoral College, it'll be one of those moments where you remember where you were at the time, and the general behavior of people around who are angry over this.

The period between 14 December and the 4th of January when Congress opens?  It's going to be tense....24 hours a day....seven days a week.  Certain family members can't mingle with other members....churches will find pews half-empty....and death threats to be made to members of the Supreme Court (they will go into hiding by Christmas week is my prediction).

The importance of the Georgia Senator election?  It would now go to maximum 'turbo' and 20,000 journalists will arrive in early January....to make this a monster-election.  

Nevada Story

 There's an interesting piece that came out of Nevada this week....where someone sat down and looked at the voting rooster.  Out there among the thousands of folks registered to vote....there is this group of 13,000 people, who are not listed with a sex or birthdate.  

Legal?  Some folks are asking questions.  In most states, this would be a clear problem and they'd end up removed.  In a few states, some court appointee would be handed the situation and asked to go visit these folks.  

Then on top of that....some folks simply listed an RV park as their address.  This could be legit (lot of folks just live out of an RV these days).  But you have a fair number of folks who live in some northern state, and spend winter months out in the warmer climate. 

If the RV park folks were double-registered and double-voted?  Man, that's legal action and likely to cost you a minimum of $10k in legal fees to avoid prison.

Just another reason why so many people see the voting process as a 'joke'.  

Redrawing Districts Chatter

 As the smoke has cleared from the elections across the fifty states....one odd aspect stands out.

After the Census is concluded and certain state lose/gain House seats....Republican-run states won the majority of the state districts election to write the redistricting plan, if they are in the gain-situation.  

Total number?  if you look around, it's 188 seats that Republican states will draw the districts for.  The Democrat-controlled states?  73 seats.

The gain states?  Virginia, Oregon, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Arizona and Colorado.

Losing a seat or two?  Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Penn, Rhode Island, NY, and Minnesota. 

The odds of various districts in Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Arizona, and Florida being drawn to ensure a GOP winner in future elections (starting in 2022)?  Around a 100-percent chance.  You could see Florida redrawn to such a degree....that three or four districts are no longer 'safe' Democratic seats.

Odds of a contested district redrawing?  Oh, that's a 100-percent chance as well.  But here's the thing....you have to take this to the Supreme Court, and the odds are slightly against you at this point.  

Farm Chatter

 Senator Booker (NJ) brought up a legislative action (basically for this session only)....to grant out of some government 'free deal'.....where farms that came up on the market would be procured by the government and 'handed' out to black farmers (new farmers, I assume, but he wasn't clear on this).  Odds of passing in the 2020 session?  ZERO.  Odds in 2021?  ZERO.  

But this brings up this entire topic of farms, expectations, costs, and misunderstandings.

First, farms don't readily come up daily for sale.  In most cases, one of two things occurred....a bankruptcy, or a farm family generation coming to an end.  

Top states with farm bankruptcies?  Georgia, California, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, Penn, and Kansas.

Bottom states with farm bankruptcies?  Wyoming, Colorado, Alabama, Mississippi, Oregon, Washington, Florida, and all of the New England states.

What makes a farm bankruptcy?  It tends to go down three paths: (1) stupid loans with banks that have crazy interest rates, (2) repeat drought years (farmers don't survive 3 consecutive years of drought), (3) simply bad luck that repeats (buying equipment that fails in the field and consumes valuable time on repairs).  

Handing a start-up farm over to a brand new farmer?  Even if the land deal was 'free'....then comes the reality of equipment/vehicles required.  To reach a basic start-up level with purely a cattle operation (say 150 to 300 head)...you need to figure $100,000 required.  

If this were a crop-production property, then you'd step up to the next level and figure $150k to $200k (maybe less, if you went to entirely used equipment, but then you'd take the risk of breakdowns and time consumed on repairs).

For a real 500 acre situation, with multiple ways of production/profit, you might be talking about $300k to $500k of equipment.

The tool shed?  Go and assume that $5k of tools and equipment will be required.

The harsh reality of going into Wisconsin, Nebraska or Minnesota for farming?  No one relishes getting up at 5:30 on a January morning, and having 12 hours of outdoor activities on the must-do list.  

No one wants to go and spend three hours with a cow trying to deliver a calf in a barn stall with the temperature near 30 degrees F.  

No one wants to go spend six hours to repair a piece of equipment that is essential for daily operations....in a cold damp shed.

Dealing with modern tractors that require a computer system to diagnose the maintenance issue, and a $300 visit by an official mechanic for the tractor company?  

No one understands the comradery of a farmer....where he hangs out for 45 minutes each Tuesday with five other farmers at the local grill....sipping coffee and eating 400 calorie donuts....while getting dismal updates from his associates about their woes.  Each pats the other on the back, and they exit the grill....to find some patience, understanding, and willpower to overcome the negatives in front of them.

No one wants to go and add up the number of hours wasted as such-and-such repair part isn't available locally, and the farm supply store is talking about four days to get such a part, or suggesting you drive 400 miles to the Ozarks (the mystery parts dealer who has a warehouse of parts but no sign on the front of the building, who wants cash for the deal) to get your part.

No one wants to go and replace an entire fence line for their beef cattle operation....that is 4,000 feet long and over 30 years old (rusting to a great extent).  They know for a two-man effort, this could consume ten work days minimum.  But they know that Marvin (the favorite bull), and his associate Wendy (that wild cow you bought last year)....are plotting up a storm to bring the fence down and escape the big woods.

No one wants to think about peer pressure to not work on Sundays (the Lords day), and they simply tell the ministers and neighbors that the Lord isn't working miracles on their farm.  So they work the 7th day.

No one enjoys cattle round-up situations where two-percent of their 300 cows are a bit crazed, and fully capable of stomping you into the ground. 

To say that things since 1920....have improved drastically on farms across the nation...misses several key points.  

For every improvement, we invented a new way of making farming miserable.  

For each man-hour we cut on production or operations, we added another hour somewhere else.  The repair manuals?  When you can find them (the tractor folks would prefer you not have such information in your hands)....you tend to shake your head because there's 42 procedures required over a 3-hour job, to replace one single item on the tractor.  

To be a farmer today, you need to be 50-percent engineer, 50-percent repairman, 50-percent animal expert, 50-percent financial wizard, 50-percent weatherman, 50-percent historian, and 50-percent animal healer.  

For each piece of new and modern technology, we invented a path to engineers and higher cost for what ought to be a simple piece of working equipment.

Farmers now sit there at 5:30 AM....watching for 'Weatherman-Dan' from Channel 19 to stage the next three days.  A light shower here, a 98-temperature reading for tomorrow, or a week of showers coming up?  They all flip and rotate the farm calendar and taskings.  

A farmer might be in shock to making 180-percent of his profit expectations for three years straight....taking the wife off to Aruba for five days in the spring, or buying a $40k new pick-up.  The same guy tends to get into severe depression when he achieve two consecutive years of 60-percent of his profit expectation.

For some reason, I don't think Booker has ever spent a single day on a farm, and these idiots advising him....probably haven't done so either.  

Explaining the 'Great Reset'

 Over the past month or two....a lot of chatter has started up on this agenda being openly discussed (maybe for a year)....of the 'Great Reset'.

What is it?

To keep it simple....for over 2,000 years, various countries, kingdoms, and regimes have attempted a rebuild philosophy....declaring that things were fu*ked-up, and some new strategy would be put on the table to un-fu*k things.  

It's like talking about the Oakland A's baseball team of the late 1970s, and agreeing that the big names had all left, and they needed to rebuild the team from scratch.  Ten years after this period....they then admitted that things needed to be rebuilt again.  Then around 1996, they went to a another rebuild era (which still revolves the team today).

Banks do this....corporations do this....governments do this....even McDonalds will do a minor rebuild.  All in search of the lust to find success.

But the 'Great Reset' has this one slight difference....it's the idea that virtually every single government and every single company will simultaneously will enter the rebuild era...at the same time, with the same vision.

The odds of a massive fu*k-up?  Massive chaos usually invites massive revolution....where things get violent, and people feel screwed.

The odds of this?  It's hard to say.  To be honest....from the past 2,000 years (modern civilization)....all of these rebuilds or resets have been compartmented and limited in vision.  So the success level of this idea is really hard to gauge.  

How you should perceive the chatter on this?  Be skeptical and ask stupid questions.  If the rebuild 'bosses' seem to be of a 5th grade mentality....fire them as quickly as possible.  If the next guy seems to be a 5th grader as well....fire him.  Common sense should prevail in the end.  

My humble guess is that in five years....the 'great reset' will be something that you don't ever want to hear about ever again.

The Big Hour

 At some point between 30 November and 13 December....the Supreme Court is going to review the issues presented and come to a decision over several states, and the election.  

I imagine that it's going to throw out the results of at least three to four states....leaving it for the few days left between then and the 14th....the day of the Electoral College for the state legislatures to resolve this mess.

But it's that hour after the announcement that matters.

All of you....will sit there and view friends, co-workers and relatives who 'rise' and 'fall'.  Everyone, for the next forty years, will remember where they were and how it felt.

News journalists will go into some emotional breakdown....unable to comprehend the situation.

If the results are thrown out....I expect the Antifa and BLM people to stage immediate riots...burning fifty-odd cities across the nation.  People will be shot on the street.  Schools will shut down for several days.  Some business operations will shut down for the day.

I would suggest you sit and prepare yourself....it will be like 9-11 or the JFK shooting....ten times over.  

The MAGA Party?

 I noticed via social media today....someone suggesting up the idea of leaving the Republican Party (because it's filled with so many fakes), and then adapting Trump values to a new party.

Observations over this idea?

Basically, you'd be losing the 2022 mid-term election.  You'd also probably be giving up the odds of winning the 2024 election.

How many Republicans would walk away and join such a party?  That's another problem.  My humble guess is that fewer than one out of four for the next four years. Maybe by 2028?  You might see 75-percent of Republican-leaning voters going this way.

Affecting a twist on the Democrats as well?  Well, why not open this up and get Democrats to trigger the same thing in their camp?  Why not let the far left stick with the Democratic brand, and let working-class Democrats have a smaller party that has fewer of the dramatics and fake branding?  

As for dismantling the Republicans?  They would be basically stuck.....unless they cooperated with the MAGA folks...there would be no future for the Republicans for the next decade.  

I'm not suggesting this is a brilliant idea, but the Republican Party is crapped out presently, and way too many 'fakes' in the middle of it.  

A 1803-2020 Discussion

 In the early morning hours of 31 August 1803....a crew of roughly forty-five men started what would be the 'Lewis and Clark Expedition'....traveling across the US, reaching the west coast, and traveling back....arriving back into civilization on 25 September 1806.  

I came to observe Covid-19 and the aspects of the expedition in a special way.  

To complete this three-year journey....the amazing thing here, with over a thousand different 'threats'....not a single person dies on this journey.  With snakes, bears and wolves as a threat?  Nothing.  With potential Indian attacks?  Nothing.  Pneumonia? Nothing.  

If you had been standing there in August of 1803 (beginning)....you would have gazed over the aspects of safety....written a serious letter of concern, and using 2020 logic....halted the aspect of performing this walk to the Pacific coast.

Every single day, if these forty-five men, if they were 2020 type individuals....they would have gotten up and discussed the fear of the day...the threat of death possibly coming up, and how to resolve the safety aspects.  Instead, those 1803 type individuals got up....had a sip of coffee, and simply went in search of adventure and the unknown.

It is a remarkable difference between the 1803 folks and the 2020 folks.  They aren't of the same breed.   

Military Medal for Covid-19?

 Someone brought it up to me today....that the Pentagon back in the summer approved a medal for Covid-19 'operations'.  My first reaction....are you crazy?  I went and did the research, and yes.....it exists.  

Well...so the medal is the Armed Forces Services Medal and Humanitarian Service Medal.  

Basically, you are 'directed' to support some purpose or mission that is for Covid-19, and it's for a minimum of 30 days. If you were detailed out to handle paperwork for some base office for 30 days that matter on Covid-19?  Yep, that's enough.  

A worthless medal?  Well....you don't get points for promotion over this, but if you were looking for just another medal for your uniform....it's a fairly easy one to acquire.  Multiple ones?  I would assume that you could get two or three a year, if you broke these times up into 30 to 45 days at a whack.

Explaining this to the old guys who did military time in the 1960s in Nam?  It's best not to bring this up.  

Arriving at Civil War?

 Maybe it's not openly discussed, but if you reviewed the world situation, there's around two-dozen countries which are either at civil war currently, about to engage upon civil war, or are a couple of years away from the event. 

Right now in Spain, in the northeastern region....it's safe to say that twenty-five percent of the public would like to move onto a civil war if they can't disconnect their region from Spain.  

Since WW II....if you went and analyzed countries across the globe, there's been over 200 civil wars to occur.  

In some areas of Mexico, if you talked to the working guy on the street....he'd tell you that the drug cartels have created enough of a problem that civil war would almost be welcomed as it'd bring some type of change.

Some Greeks would tell you that they've simply avoided civil war by agreeing to argue, but not get confrontational or violent.  So for the past forty years, they argue on a constant basis, drink some ouzo, and in the morning....get up fresh, and start back to arguing in a polite way.

Events in the US?  I can name twenty cities now that BLM/Antifa 'troops' roam, and locals are in some thinking pattern over whether to stay or leave.  In a city like Seattle, if 20-percent of the real money-makers up and leave....the budget and city operations would go into freefall.  In Minneapolis, a fair number of the business operations which were burnt to the ground....haven't rebuilt, and their leveled sites will just remain there as 'monuments' to the looting/chaos.

Generally, you recognize a civil war by five characteristics (my humble list): (1) you fear for your safety in a public setting, (2) some opposing group which shows violent tendencies have a 'uniform' and a 'flag', (3) there is consumption of city/state resources/funding to 'protect' you, (4) a propaganda 'mill' is at work and obvious to the common citizen, and (5) ethnic/regional groups are 'drafted' to form up on this side or in support of this 'mission'.

CBS news said two weeks ago that five million Americans in 2020....bought weapons for the first time in their life.

As of the last week of October, 17-million weapons had been sold.  If you were a gun shop owner, there's virtually NO way that you'd be going out of business.

Even in Portland itself....the home of so many riots and protests....local purchases are at high point.

Joe Biden as the guy to save us from the civil war?  No one seems to be able believe in this idea.  But in the same rational thinking....I kinda doubt that Donald Trump can save us.  The war is here, and now.

The next four years....from either Biden or Trump?  It's a rough period, especially if you lived in DC, NY City, Philly or any of forty-odd urban regions.

So don't go and expect a lot from the future. 

When the Smoke Clears

 At some point between the 7th and 14th of December, I expect the Supreme Court to come out of the office and lay down the direction of this election.

The software glitch business?  The extra ballots that appeared in a couple of states?  The rules made up by non-legislative folks without the authority to make rules?  

I expect all of these to add up and more than four states are disqualified via the Electoral College method from participation.  The actual number of voters for Biden or Trump from the states selected?  It'll be zeroed-out. It won't count in any discussion.

Then from 14 December to 3 January....I expect massive riots across the US during the holiday season.  Washington DC...in effect....will turn into a war-zone.  Most DC employees will be sent to their homes and apartments....to wait until early January, with National Guardsmen brought in to establish order.

A lot of us will sit at our TVs and view the action....asking how this all happened...shocked over the corruption and 3rd-world handling of the voting system. 

The affect on Congress for 2021?  Don't expect much of anything to occur, and some will be fearful of showing up for most of the year.  

2020 House Election Results

 Just something to ponder upon.....all of the House districts in the US....with the 2020 House election.  Yeah....a lot of Red.  The smaller districts....urbanized zones....are more in number.

The Climate is Changing, Why Aren't We?

 I sat and watched this weekend....a protest movement situation, where a sign appeared in the middle of the European protest....asking the question, the climate is changing, why aren't we?

I sat there for a while and pondered upon it.

After I came to six observations:

1.  I use less electricity today, than I did 25 years ago.  Between LED lights, the more developed engineering in the refrigerator and freezer, and the lesser wattage in most all kitchen devices....I'm probably using 30-percent less electricity than what I used in 1995.  

2.  Most all planes that I ride on (at least before Covid)....were the newer type with better engines, and less fuel consumption.

3.  The new washer I bought in 2019?  It uses roughly three-quarters the power that I consumed with the older washer (10 years old).

4.  This being the wonderful Covid-year that it is.....I've marginally ridden the local bus no more ten times for all of 2020.

5.  The new 2019 Audi we bought?  Terrific fuel consumption numbers.

6.  The new 2019 gas heating system installed into the house?  Based on the salesman's numbers...between regular water heating and the winter-heat....it's doing the same job, with roughly 20-percent less consumption over the old heating system.

The problem here....these signs with the stupid environmental statements....are drawn mostly by 15-to-20 year old 'kids', and they don't recognize the various solutions that people are adapting.  

In their mind, there needs to be hour-by-hour changes, and they have a marginal view of human history, or our change-cycle. 

Observations

 1.  New book by former President Obama coming out.....768 pages.  

Yeah, it is a bit excessive, and probably would take you six to eight weeks of reading to wrap it up.  So, one piece in the book being discussed....he admits that for most of the Presidency.....he was still smoking a minimum of eight cigarettes' daily.  It's curious....the news media never saw this or had a photographer in the right place to take a picture?  

2.  There's this mob-guy (from Philly), who has stated that he's prepared to give evidence over manufactured ballots in the 2020 election.  Number?  300,000.  The deal?  $10 per ballot.  They were manufactured over a 3-day period, and dumped into the system.

Reliability?  Hard to say.  Evidence?  So far, nothing.  It appears that the blank ballots that his team had....had one marking for President, and that was it....no other candidates were selected.  Where were they delivered?  Unknown, so far.  

Why come out now, after getting the $3-million (I assume in cash)?  This is not explained, and it's the weak part of the story.

3.  From Sixty Minutes last night....former President Obama is interviewed, and the question comes up....Joe Biden got tons more votes than Obama....what did Obama think about this?

The answer given....has no relationship to the question.  He just stepped across and avoided the question entirely.  He has to be a bit disgruntled over that part of the story.  

The Need for Critical Thinking

 A couple of years ago, I essayed a piece on critical thinking and the necessity for it.

It used to be, if you went off for four years of university, you would get a fair dose of critical thinking and get the skill sets to accomplish it.  Over the past twenty years, I'd suggest that you could make it through college today, without much of a mention over the 'art' of critical thinking.  

To define it....you have a problem or situation, and you need judgement over what this is (defined), the root causes, and then if you engaged to remedy the problem....you have some options on the solution.

Generally, you need to know how to evaluate a situation and gather facts or semi-facts to build a judgement. By semi-facts, I mean things that are generally assumed but yet to be proven as absolute fact.

Somewhere in this analysis.....you are also working up a unbiased nature, where you can accept certain things which you'd normally not support.

Then there's the fine art of skepticism, where you've been told a semi-fact, but question this....to the point where you realize it can't be proven, and it can be stamped as fact.

A new way of thinking with critical thinking?  No....the Greeks came up with this....over 2,000 years ago.

Why disengage from critical thinking?  That's the curious thing....without this skill, anything you picked up for the four-year period or the $80,000....is utterly worthless.  It would make no sense, unless the objective was to 'lose' critical thinking skills in our society.  

So, maybe a reading from Socrates and Plato might make sense right now, and asking some stupid questions which ought to have rational answers.  

Time to Heal Chatter?

 

Just something to think about....how so many newspapers went to the same headline.  

The odds of healing coming?  

Shocker?

 It's a bit humorous, but the NY Post reports this....Erica Abi Wright...professionally known as Erykah Badu in the Hip-Hop world....felt she had symptoms of Covid-19.  

She went for a test (well....two tests).  One is done on the left nostril, and one on the right nostril.

Negative on the right nostril.  Positive on the left nostril.   

What does this mean?  You could line up 100 people who think they have symptoms, and just do one single nostril on the test, and it comes back negative.  So the doctor just says you have a light case of the flu (which later turns out to be a fairly bad case of the flu), and you get over this in two weeks.  Yes, you actually had real Covid....because the test only concluded with one nostril which didn't have the virus.

Rocket-science stuff?  No.

So the testing is not really like you'd desire?  More or less.  But some idiot PhD guy will eventually figure out that via your anus....you can swab that and get a good 'reading'.  A bunch of the test folks will step back and kinda refuse to participate once this is the guaranteed way to get a positive-negative reading.  

The Winner Poll

 I was reading through various reports this morning and noticed that Rasmussen worked up a poll.  The question....is Joe Biden the winner now?

Well...49-percent said yes.

16-percent said they weren't sure of nothing. 

34-percent felt Donald Trump had won.

The poll was done between the 5th and 7th of November.  

In simple terms, it's not a convincing win for Joe Biden....there's doubt.  Even if Trump is bested here in the end....there will be marginally a majority of folks who believe Joe Biden actually won.

A mess going forward?  More or less.  

The place-holder President?  I suspect as you get into early 2022 with President Joe (assuming he wins)....the doubt will be there, and a lot of people will be shaking their head over the mess to clean up.

Here's the tough part about this scenario....you'd have to have a news media that openly avoids all discussion over President Joe, his agenda, or the players in his camp.  Yes, the news media would have to go out and cover the actual news (something they haven't done in two decades).  Political chat shows on Sundays?  They will become incredibly boring, and very limited on questions of quality.

This might be the four-year period that you wanted to take up a new hobby, learn how to golf, or rebuild that garage.  

Observations

1.  There is a story out there that Hillary Clinton (if Joe wins) will be the next UN Ambassador.  UN folks would be happy about this.

You can figure that a fair amount of Sunday political talk show chatter, will involve her being a guest to explain 'things' to people.  Based on past demonstration....this would be like some 5th-grader explaining nuclear physics. 

2.  If all past lockdowns/shutdowns worked....why would we engage upon another one at this point?

You basically have to admit that they have no effect what so ever.  

3.  These five states meeting in a 'summit' to have ban-rules?  Basically it's a opportunity to view the screwed-up nature of things, and why you shouldn't remain a resident of their states.

Alaska Story

 It came up yesterday morning, and is one of those little stories about the US election that you will be amused over.

Alaska said basically....they will not be able to wrap up the count of ballots....until 18 November (next Wednesday).

Yes, with a population of 731.500....figuring around 500,000 voted.....the count continues.

Why so slow?  They simply point toward absentee ballots.

No one is really believing in the story, but no one is suggesting corruption.

A Defund the Police Story

 So this is one of those stories that draw you into pondering.

Out in Portland, Oregon....there was this city commissioner....Jo Ann Hardesty.

This is an individual who was pushing hard to defund the local police.  She actually asked for a $18 million cut this past summer....which failed (3-2 vote).  She got pretty hyped-up after this....saying the mayor had a lack of courage.

So it comes out that this same person (Hardesty)....had to call 9-1-1 over a Lyft-driver incident.....around this same time period.

Reason?  He'd picked her up....had one window slightly down (maybe half-an-inch) to allow air flow.  She didn't want that....he refused to raise the window....so she calls the cops.

I sat and pondered over this.  It's hard to imagine this type of necessity being such....that you'd call the police (air flow through a window).  Usually, if cops are involved....it's 'serious' (at least you think that).

How long were the cops there to talk to the driver and Ms Hardesty?  Unknown.  

Is this a case where a social worker should have come out and spent an hour doing confrontation de-escalation?  Maybe.

But it's bothersome that she wanted to cut funding on the police....which she apparently had an urgent need their services.  

Fixing Ailments the German Way

 When a German mentions up 'Kur'....it leads down this path where they've had mental or physical issues, and they need 'recovery'.   Logically, you ask questions, and once it's identified as something other than physical....it's best to stop the chat there and not ask any more questions.

What the 'Kur' ends up being?  I'd call it a 3-to-4 week period at some motivational hotel operation.  Some are rigged up to be physical operations....where you spend eight hours a day walking, swimming, or doing some kind of Yoga-stuff.  They'd like for you to eat right....consume spring-water....and lay in some warm waters.

Others are rigged up to handle mental issues or alcohol problems.  In this case, a lot of time is spent on stress issues....getting you motivated....and working you to the point of either accepting life's issues, or moving on.    

They kinda lay out 100 rules as you check in.  In the old days (up until the 1980s), you could show up and just 'party' for four weeks.  Now?  They expect you to achieve something. So there's not supposed to be any booze around.  They generally want you on a schedule.  You can't disappear for four hours.  

What you can count on....fairly cheap coffee, basic grub for breakfast, some basic grub for lunch (2-star probably), and soup/salad for dinner.  Most Germans will tell you....unless you sneak out for a schnitzel plate at the local restaurant....you will be losing weight over the four-week period.

So does all of this effort lead to anything?  It's mostly a debate where medical folks say yes, and the actual consumers are just agreeing to this....to get four weeks of paid-leave and some marginal resort situation. 

I asked once....to older German worker on Ramstein about this whole deal.  The guy was nearing 65 and retirement.  He admitted in his entire life....never done a single 'Kur'.  From his wife's folks....just about every single one of them had done a minimum of one trip in their life....some were working on the second trip.  His impression that maybe for physical ailments...it made sense.  For the rest....if they hand these people sandbags to fill for a week, they'd get this torment stuff out of their mind.

So if you ever hang out with a German and they bring up the 'Kur' topic....you might want to avoid asking many questions.  The less you know....the better off are you.  

What the Numbers Say

 It's just an odd statistic.

13-percent of Democrats DON'T think that Joe Biden won the election.  

Then you have 23-percent of Republicans who think that Joe Biden DID win the election.

Independents?  Roughly 75-percent think that Joe Biden won.

Does it mean anything? Well, you'd have to ask each participant....what news do you watch, and to what degree.  Maybe the numbers reflect absolutely nothing.

The more appropriate question....are there issues about the conduct of states and the election process that bother you?  In that case....I would imagine more than seventy-percent saying yes, but then if you asked how to change this perception or fix this for 2022 or 2024?  People will mostly start laughing and just say it's physically impossible.  

What do dead voters think?  It's best not to bring this up.  It's troublesome to admit they have a preference in voting or are set on such-and-such agenda.  It's probably around 99-percent believing, in their non-beating hearts, that Joe Biden won.  Don't get them all riled up on this topic.  

Fear of Consequences Used to Exist

 Somewhere around age eight to twelve....the threat of consequence came into my view as a kid.  You'd watch x-number of people screw up....along would come this set group of consequences, and people would lose a point or two on their reputation.  Around age fifteen to eighteen, you'd then see the next group....who were people who were looking at legal troubles, sheriff deputies being involved, and possibly some judge.

Then I went off to the Air Force and for twenty-two years....saw a whole new group of threats on consequences start to emerge.  One example: a 22 year-old guy thinking he was dating a 18 year-old gal....only to be visited by the police and discover she was 14 years old.  Another example: a airman who co-signed on a car loan for a cousin he hadn't seen in two years....then getting a call six months later that the cousin had been arrested for selling cocaine, and the car was to be confiscated by the police....leaving him on the hook for the remaining loan.

This past week, I've been standing around and reviewing all the voting problems and suggested fraud situations.  Forty years ago....a very marginal group of people would have been involved in this and felt the worry of the threat of consequences to be worth the effort.  

Now?  It would appear that thousands of people have no worry over the threat of consequences.  They feel sure that bail will be arranged, that lawyers will be hired to defend them, and the right judges will ensure no jail-time comes out of this.

No fear of consequences?  You'd basically be saying that from this day forward....it doesn't matter how you run elections....these people intend to participate with their gimmicks, and stage fake elections.  

Maybe if we were just talking about Georgia by itself, and that 3,000 folks around the state were into the act of rigging the election to come to one particular outcome....no one would care.  But if you had fifty states participating in this game, and maybe fifty-thousand individuals who are reshaping the outcome....how would the public view the mess?

The more bothersome of this issue?  They have no fear of consequences.  Just saying that you might do a year in state prison? It apparently doesn't worry them.  You could go into a room of a hundred people, and typically 99-percent would tell you that fear of criminal charges or prison-time....would bother them greatly.  These people?  They have no fear of this.

So I end this bit of pondering with this.  Things have dramatically changed....life isn't what existed forty years ago...and if you can't trust the voting system to function, why bother voting or allowing some idiots to exist in some fantasy political scheme?  

Talking Cable

 Up until 2013....while still working in the US, I was hooked up to cable TV.  I had what you'd consider the basic package, with one extra (HBO).  This deal....basically 99 channels plus one....ran over $110 a month.  I considered it ridiculous.  Toward the end, I added what I typically watched in a single month, and it amounted to the local five TV stations, C*PAN, Fox, TBS, HBO, the History Channel, and two channels which featured older movies.  That was it.  The other 85 channels?  Worthless.

If you look around over the past month....there's a lot of chatter over TV news via the cable folks, and if this trend develops (as I expect)....the cable empires will have to rig up some deal where you get the basic cable package without CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc.  Once they reach this level, which I expect by the end of 2021....the news networks will go into some collapse mode.  Downsizing will occur, and big-names will quietly be dismissed.

CNN being rejuvenated by Bezos?  What you'd end up with is some weird combo of WaPo and CNN....probably renamed in some way, and forum-type shows being hitting the air for six-plus hours a day.  I'm not sure if people really desire that type of 'news', but that'll be the solution to spoon-feed the general public.  

As for the other two....Fox and MSNBC?  I see both downsizing the big names by the end of 2021, and some attempt to reconnect to the public.  

Finally, the question ought to come up....can cable TV survive as it is today?  If people just want a basic 15 to 20 channel offering....for less than $30 a month?  There's no real profit at that point, and a bunch of channels would drop out entirely.  I think data-streaming, with fresh new shows via Netflix and Amazon....will be the path to the future.  For networks like CBS, NBC or ABC....it's a dismal future for their brand.  

Joe's Words

 A nation united. A nation strengthened. A nation healed. The United States of America.

-- Joe Biden

To be honest, I don't think Joe writes any of his Twitter comments....there's a team for that type of 'work'.

So I gazed over the comment made.  70-plus million people didn't vote for Joe, or his agenda.  To suggest that there is some united business that occurs out of this....no, there probably isn't.

We simply move to the next level of conflict, and frustration.  

Maybe if Joe was some type of Truman-character and more of a caretaker-President....people might be somewhat united and there would be less theatrical business going on in DC.  But with the current game being played out....you can't have a caretaker-President.

The 1.8 Million Extra People

 This came up today, and it's a moment to ponder upon.

The organization....Judicial Watch....had gone out with a September 2020 study.  There's this odd factor....EIGHT states (353 counties) have 1.8 million more registered voters than actual eligible voting-age citizens.

The states?  Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

So you could have walked into a particular Colorado county that has 16,000 eligible voting-age people, and find 16,700 people registered-up.  

A mess?  Well, it begs questions.

Maybe you've got Joe who is working in county-X, and one day....moves over to county-Y without saying much.  Then six months later, after hooking up with some gal...he moves to county-Z.  Is he still registered in the two previous counties?  Probably so.

What would really mess up this situation....you discover that 1.8 EXTRA people did vote in the EIGHT states, and in most cases....double-voted....meaning there's around 1.8 votes just hanging out there.  

Worth a Senate investigation?  Well....what would these idiots discover?  You'd just open up a bigger mess.

Maybe these are all dead people still on the roosters?  I sat and thought over this.  Maybe Judicial Watch just didn't ask the right questions, and these are all dead folks.  But it's an odd question to toss out there....just after an election.  

Ten Bits of Advice

 Sometimes, I just go and dispense regular advice:

1.  Right now, the business community (Wall Street) is on a slightly upward trend.  The stability or lack of stability....has yet to occur.  Once people feel stability in question....they dump money out of their regular 401k program, and into bonds.  Presently, looking forward to 20 January....I'd go and review my 401k options, and move virtually all (say 95-percent or more) over to a bond-related situation.  I'd plan on this now, while your fund is still relatively good.  Bonds rarely make more than 1-to-2 percent a year, but you are simply parking it there for three months and will have a different strategy in February of 2021.

2.  There is this odd idea going on in NY City....that so many properties have been vacated and put up for sale...with their regular prices attached, and no one interested to buy them at those prices.  These analysts suggest that if an overwhelming number of properties in NY started to appear, and started to be cut by 10-to-20 percent....a lot of losses would occur, and it'd trigger real estate speculation to a significant degree.  This all leads to this idea of another 'bubble' (remember 2008) existing and this might lead to a major economic event in early 2021 (won't matter if Trump or Biden wins).  I would be very mindful of what's going on and analyze my situation....if I were buy, or selling property right now.  

3.  Christmas in a Covid period?  Personally, I don't see how Black Friday would work, or if the risks are worth it.  I'd probably go and use online services (except for Amazon).  

4.  Attending holiday events with relatives who might be charged-up politically?  With the current trends, and unknowns....this might be the year to skip such an event.  

5.  Cruise-ship trip trending downward, and camping trending upward?  I'd go ahead and suggest that for 2021 and 2022....a heck of lot of cruise-ships won't be operating.  Even with vaccinations occurring in the spring/summer of 2021....camping or RVing will continue for the foreseeable future.  Buying into RVs?  I probably wouldn't go and spend $70k on one, but these trailers designed for outback or rough camping (10 days or less) can be purchased for $30k to $40k.  They'd appear to be something that would easily last 15 years, and maybe camping in the wild or at some coastal National Park....might be a positive way to spend your off-time.

6.  If you live in a town that has created a magnet for the druggie crowd (soup-kitchen, shelter, etc)....you might need to replace your local city or county officials and lessen the magnet....to prevent escalation of robberies or break-in's. 

7.  If you run or work in a full-service restaurant, the experts say that full recovery from the Covid-19 threat.....won't occur for a minimum of four years.  It might be time to look for new work.

8.  If you are a gal, or the husband of a gal....looking for a Christmas gift of a different variety (for her, or for yourself)....then maybe this is the season to visit your local ammo/gun shop.

Size wise, I would recommend 3 types in this case: (1) Sig P238, (2) Glock 26, (3) Sig P365.  

If you never have fired a pistol....ask the ammo/gun shop guy if he provides a course (most do)....then ask for a discount and be firm that you should get one.  I'd plan on at least a hundred rounds of ammo for the 1st time out on practicing, and do a return visit within three to four months.  

9.  Don't go expecting miracles with the new Covid-19 vaccine when it's finally delivered.  You just might have to be taking this twice a year.  

10.  As depressing as this holiday period might be (political chaos, Covid, etc)....maybe it's time to turn off the TV, and keep yourself away from news for 99-percent of the day.  Find some fine tunes (jazz, 1970s hits, hillbilly music, etc) or find three or four great classics to read once again.

On my classics to be read at least once in life: 1984 by George Orwell, Animal Farm by Orwell as well, Last of the Mohicans by Cooper, War of the Worlds by Wells, and White Fang by London. 

On historical non-fiction?  1898: Birth of the American Century by Traxel, The Man From the Train by James (note, he's laying out a massive serial killer story that probably happened but isn't necessarily tied together), True Believer by Hoffer, Drinking in America: Our Secret History by Cheever, Land of the Burnt Thigh by Kohl (a note on this book, it's a decent history of women in the pioneer period of North Dakota and fairly story-telling).  

Finally, if you can find a copy (maybe even e-book-wise) of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America (written in 1835)...it's a great book to pick up and reflect upon what made America different, and attracting people to leave Europe.  

The Next 72 Days

 After a fair amount of pondering....I will lay out what I think the next 72 days will be:

- Trump goes to openly challenge seven to ten states on a fraudulent election.  Various elements will be attached....each state with differing problems.  The case will hit the Supreme Court around the week following Thanksgiving week.  

- In this period leading up to the Supreme Court.....the federal marshal folks will come to Justice Roberts and lay out the threat to safety and security for the building and the Supreme Court.  They are openly admitting 20,000 pro-Biden folks in the mix, and maybe 10,000 pro-Trump people.  The threat even extends to their private residences.  

A call is made to the President, and several thousand National Guard folks are given orders to report to DC....to protect the court and their private homes.

- As opening day starts at the court, more than 50,000 protesters are in DC.  Several buildings are set on fire that night.

- The court rushes through the business in three days.  Then they go into 'hiding'.  A week passes and the court announces that in a minimum of five states....the election results are invalid.  The choice left....for those states....to have a legislative meeting, and vote for the electors themselves (within the state), before 13 December.  

- Now, all hell breaks loose in the five states, with open threats made against the legislators themselves, their homes, and dozens of major riots are led by Antifa and BLM across the US.  

- At least two states refuse to make any decision, and in the end....the 270-number is not met at the Electoral College.

- From 13 December until 3 January....riots occur across the US.  Open-murders occur in cities like Minneapolis, DC, and Philly.  Tens of thousands of people are evacuating the inner cities of the US.

- House members who were supposed to arrive on 3 January to start the new session....are receiving death threats daily, and the police are unable to protect them or their homes. At the opening session....at least fifty members refuse to show up.

- Threats now extend across both sides....right-wing types are sensing civil war underway and openly threatening democratic members now.

- House Speaker on day one of the 3 January session....is gone by day seven.  Roving crowd of protesters are roaming DC at night....buying dozens of structures. An enormous number of Americans are fed up with the riots and looting.  

- As day 20 arrives, Trump's last day....there is still not a vote.  A temporary House Speaker (the 3rd person since 3 January) is appointed President.  Riots continue, with two dozen individuals shot dead in a 24-hour period, as the 20th arrives and the situation looks even more chaotic now.  

- The 20th will be deemed a national civil war by various journalists watching the episode.  CNN crews are chased by pro-Trump riot people.  Fox crews are chased by pro-Biden riot people.  

- By the evening of the 20th of January....a major attempt will be made by the Antifa/BLM crowd to cross the White House fence, and burn down the structure.  Trump (now out of office) has been relocated to another location. Biden, for least five days prior to the 20th.....has virtually disappeared and issues statements via a third party. 

- A lot of people are sitting there on the 20th of January, watching TV and in total disbelief at how quick society collapsed.  Gun and ammo sales ramp up.  The stock market drops 4,000 points in the five days leading up to the 20th.  Most all grocery stores in major US cities are ransacked in the days leading up to the 20th.  Freight companies refuse to deliver to sixteen major cities in America, with the food supply in cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Seattle in question.  

My Masterplan

 If you had come to me in 2017 and said....we (the Democratic Party) want to run Joe Biden and want a virtually guaranteed win, then I would have sat down and devised a simple plan.

It would revolve around four essential elements:

1.  I would pick the seven least won states that Trump had in 2016, and center my entire effort upon them.

2.  I would pick out the urban areas of those seven states (Detroit, Philly, Atlanta, Madison, etc).  I would also look at weakened states for the vote in 2020 (Minn and Nevada).  In these urban areas, I'd assign teams, via various foundations.  One 'captain' given four guys, and given the task to register 3k voters.  I'd appoint a minimum of two dozen of these Captains.  In each major urban area, I'd have a clerk or two with the city who understands what has to happen, and ensure no one challenges the addition of 60k 'new' voters.

3.  I'd look at the voting software game, and see if I can find the technician to write one extra line of code, and try to add 40k extra votes in each state (spreading them around various districts, to avoid detection).

4.  Finally, I'd want a big enough mess with Corona to exist....to open the pit for mail-in votes.  Not just 10,000 or 100,000, but in some cases....I'd be talking about pouring in 250k votes out of thin air....from non-existence.  

Once all of this was achieved, I'd want the news media to bless it all rather quickly and halt any suggestion of Russian 'fixing'.  I'd want such a wide array of problems, that the news media would just continually state its position....nothing corrupt happened here.  

Then at the end....once success was achieved with this mechanism...I'd go to the obvious home-run, I'd want to run three or four Constitutional Amendments over the next four years....bringing an enormous amount of change to the landscape, while doing it with a minority of Americans (maybe fewer than 50-million voters).  

I'd dump the Electoral College....delete the 2nd Amendment (no rights with guns), mandate absolute authority over commerce, and force carbon taxes upon everyone.  All of this....I'd accomplish with a minority of voters.  

The people who should be catching me in the act?  They either aren't that bright, or they just don't care.  

Reagan and His Alzheimer Situation

 Generally, you have to go read through dozens of articles and history summaries to come to some conclusion over this.

The beginning of this period?  His son summed it up and said in this period of 1984....various little things started to occur where 'dad' simply didn't remember names that well, or connect events to dates.  It wasn't Alzheimers at this point, but he was beginning to show memory issues. This was two years after the assassination attempt.  At this point, he was 73 years old.

Somewhere in the 1989 period....riding a horse....he took a fall and had a concussion. It wasn't severe, but if you go back to this episode, you have to wonder about this triggering the next round of events. 

Around five years after he left the Presidency....1994...he officially announced that he had full-up Alzheimers.  

Death?  Summer of 2004....roughly a full decade into the Alzheimers period.  Personally, I don't think any of this 1980s period was more than periodic and minor forgetfulness.  It advanced each year....no doubt.  But it wasn't an Alzheimers period.  

If you go and do the research....older folks who do have concussions (whether on bicycles, or by horse-back)....tend to have a 2.3 times higher chance of Alzheimers later in life.  

1,223 Days

Between 29 October 1929, and 5 March 1933....a lot of things happen in Germany to create a fanatical wave of despair and Adeline-rush.  

Germany goes through this massive fall of enthusiasm in November 1918, and goes through two to three year rebuilding process over 'hope'.  If you were standing there in the summer of 1914, and tried to imagine the landscape of 1919.....it's harsh, dismal, and suggesting of a collapse of society.  Yet things shift around and over this period of 1919 to 29 October 1929....it's a whole new world to catch up to.

Then this wave of 1,223 days starts up on 29 October 1929.  The stock market crash carries away the savings of various Germans....the safety and stability of society is cut loose once again, and people are looking for anything....to grasp and feel secure.

5 March 1933 arrives....an election day, and the Nazi Party will carry home a major political win.  In the minds of roughly 40-percent of the country....things are about to shift and improve.  A new version of socialism is coming.  The hyped-up feeling of unity exists.  Whatever is dragging upon society....is about to be cut loose (at least in their minds).

This is a long 1,223 days.  Some banks collapse.  Some business operations close their doors.  This ten years of semi-prosperity....are basically forgotten.

This four-year period to reach 5 March 1933?  Few ever go back and talk about the period, or the cultural shift required.  It's history forgotten....for whatever reason. 

Worthly News Suggestions

 For a number of years, I read the Weekly Standard, among a dozen-odd news print selections (Time, Newsweek, Kiplingers, etc).  Around four years ago, I dropped the Weekly Standard....realizing they weren't exactly conservative in nature, and they seemed to be awful pro-Bush.  Recently, I dropped Fox News....realizing they were going down the same path.  

So my suggestions on news?

- OANN

- Red State

- Western Journal

- Judicial Watch

- Daily Wire (Sundays, they do episodes with Victor Davis Hanson which are worth watching).

- Epoch Times, very neutral and insightful...but subscription cost at $77 a  year (weekly digital version). Via YouTube, you can view their interviews, which I regard as some of the best.

- The Daily Signal

- The First TV (features Bill O'Reilly)

- News Busters (More of coverage chatter across the board)

- Powerline Blog (note, more of a blog than an actual news site, but frequently updated and brings a lot of topics to the table)

- CATO Institute (note, fairly in-depth writings and probably not for everyone)

- PJ Media

- The Federalist

- The Bongino Report (note, probably a far better site than Drudge ever was)

- Heritage Foundation (note, they don't do a lot of articles, but the ones that are published by them....are the type to make you think a good bit)

How a President-Elect Biden Would Cure The Corona 'Mess' in One Month

 It's fairly simple.

Right now, upon death in a hospital (whether by a car-accident, suicide or heart-attack)....the hospital will administer a Covid-19 test.  Sometimes, they might ask the family....sometimes, they might just do it on their own.  

The test in most cases will come back....positive, so the the guy/gal becomes an identifiable number of 'death by Covid-19'. 

Extra money is dished out to the hospital via a government program (in the $30k to $40k range)....mostly to make up for elective surgical procedures being cancelled out.

Upon arrival in DC....a President Biden would just order the cash flow/test deal to halt.  

Within 30 days, this miracle would be observed by a marginal press....the death rate has suddenly dropped....maybe by 50-percent (maybe more).  Infections might still continue on, but the death-rate will be what is openly discussed in the news.  

The new administration would then get a pat on the back for resolving the terrible numbers of the previous administration.  

And don't worry....that extra cash deal for the hospitals?  It'll just drift over into some other deal, and still continue in some way. 

The Way Things Go

 My German-wife made this comment, along about the 4th day of 'counting' on the US election.

Typically in Germany, you conduct an election on a Sunday...opening up the door around around 8 AM, and closing it at 6 PM.  Votes are counted, in front of witnesses, and by 7 PM usually....it's done on counting.  The number is called into the local district, and then sent on.

The folks back in the poll station?  They start cleaning up....stacking chairs, and putting the rooms back in order.

Along about 8:30, they finish up....walk over to the local pub....have a beer or cognac (maybe two or three), and then wander home.  I doubt in the past fifty years that anyone has lingered around counting past 8 PM.

So in her mind....there's something wrong if you are still there at midnight, and marginally into 30-percent of the vote so far.  

I assured her....we have computers, and they really speed up the process.  For some reason, she's not really believing my story.  

The Guy More Shocked Than Anyone Over This Election?

 Barak Obama.

Obama is sitting there....even in his best showing of 2012....his best showing, he got 8.9 million FEWER votes than Joe Biden from this past week.

There's not a hour that passes right now....that he doesn't have this thought, and wonder about the election.  

Then he walks over to this odd topic....more blacks and Latinos voted for Trump in this election, than in 2008 or 2012.  This means that fewer blacks and Latinos voted for Biden, but somehow....Joe found 'new' voters out there to make up for Obama's 'weakness'.  

Mountain Lion Chatter

As a kid growing up....one of my favorite movies (from theater visits) was a Disney production entitled 'Charlie, The Lonesome Cougar'.  Note, cougars are basically mountain lions.

At some point in 1969 (a year after release), it ran in the local region.  Rex Allen narrated the 'tale'.   Basically by the end, you felt charmed by Charlie, and he seemed almost 'friendly'.  

Friday of this past week, my brother noted that a neighbor of sorts there in Alabama had claimed he'd seen a Mountain Lion (mostly saying this over the length of the tale).  True or not?  Unknown.

Naturally, among locals....this has hyped up folks.  Some want to do hunting to ensure an end to the situation.  Alabama law?  It's kinda direct.....you aren't supposed to shoot or hunt the mountain lions.  The same folks will say that there's been no Mountain Lions around since the 1940s.  

I sat and pondered over this.

First, the worst thing you could do is go and name him/her.  If you name anything....terminating or ending it is virtually impossible.  If I were to name him, it'd have to be 'Marvin'.  

Second, statistically speaking....you have a better chance of finding gold laying around on your property, than being attacked by a Mountain Lion.

Third, Mountain Lions tend to like Raccoons (as a snack).  So if you had to this Raccoon problem....'Donald' would take care of your issue.

Fourth, folks in these parts for years have whined about Coyotes. They tend to say that Mexicans came into the region in the 1990s and brought the Coyotes as pets.  It's the biggest bunch of BS that you could possible dream up....but people have actually said that.  Mountain Lions also tend to like Coyotes (as a snack).  'Marvin' would again, take care of your issue.

So no matter how you discuss the matter.....the Mountain Lion seems to be more positive than negative.  Course, at 5 AM....you don't want to step out of your backdoor to discover 'Marvin' standing there and eating out of the cat-food tray.  

Folks occasionally need some excitement.  Well....'Marvin' has wandered in and will briefly be that.  

If the Electoral College Fails to Deliver?

 We basically go the  back-up plan....the Contingent Election.  

In this method, with the 20th Amendment (1933), the new incoming House would have a vote....state-by-state, to deliver the 'winner'.

Number of times that it's been used?  Three (1801, 1825, and 1837).

What happens if they start on 3 January, and cannot complete this by 20 January?  The law says that the Senate requirement of voting for a VP....would then trigger the VP to be a temp-President. 

If the Senate, by 20 January, has failed do it's job?  Then you go to the House Speaker being the temp-President.

If the Senate is in turmoil on 3 January, and missing one or two folks because of vote problems?  There's no real laws to cover that type of problem.

Acceptance by the general public?  No, I would suggest a large segment of the public will be angered enough over this method to trigger civil conflict for the next four years.  But here's the thing....the area of the US to be looted or burnt?  It's Democratically-in-control cities.  So it's hard to imagine this being really positive.

The Path to National IDs

 Maybe thirty years ago, I might have agreed to the extreme far right/far left arguments on no national ID card.  Over the past twenty years, I've generally reversed my opinion. I don't see how we proceed without one....at this point.

So the top eight observations:

1.  You have to connect this to the Social Security folks (they won't like the idea).  Virtually every county in America has a S/S office, and it's already fairly automated.  I do agree...you'd have to bulk up the manpower and it's probably in the 15k personnel range.

2.  Cost?  Right now, if you go ask various states.....professionally done IDs cost in the $45 to $50 range.  

I would make the US ID rate at $50, and offer up a free card to anyone who presents tax paperwork, or welfare evidence....that they make less than $35k a year on take-home salary.  Anyone from $35k a year or more....pay the $50 per card.

3.  Age to get a card?  I'd make it age 16, and offer up the first card for free.  

4.  Validity of the card?  Seven years.  At 7 years and one day....it's no longer valid. 

5.  Registering to vote in any state?  The national ID card would be required and presented.  Any attempt to get past this registration without the card....would be stopped.  

6.  Laws over duplication or fraud?  If you were the person within Social Security making the fraudulent card or entry.....no less than five years in prison, and $20k fine would be acceptable.  Outside the Social Security  group?  No less than ten years or $25k in fines.  Anyone who has manufactured more than a hundred cards?  Lifetime prison.  

7.  If this card identifies you as a Tennessee resident, then you primarily pay Tennessee taxes.  So if you moved from one state to another, you'd have to go and re-register within that state.  This data would be provided to each state upon request by their police, voting establishment or tax people.

8.  Finally, if you did attempt to attempt to vote in two different states in the same election, with the card....it would automatically flag some national office in the FBI, and a complete investigation would be required.  

Observations

 1.  The odds that Trump, if this mess ends in his defeat....comes back in 2024?  A fair number of Republicans who want him 'out-of-the-picture' are beginning to grasp that he won't just go away.  

Added to this line of progress....no one is exactly expecting the Biden-Harris era to be 'glorious' at this point.  President Harris will likely serve at least two years and find the public support marginal.  

2.  The FBI is looking at backdated ballots in Michigan.  No one says much.  Dozens of such ballots wouldn't make much difference.  If you came up with 5k to 10k of these?  Well...they'd have be thrown out, but if you can't establish which are which....then the whole state 'count' is null and void.  

3.  The polls were more wrong in 2020, than in 2016?  It's now being suggested.  

4.  Charisma-charm issue?

If you rated charisma and charm, then asked about the top forty in the Democratic Party....neither Joe Biden or his VP (Harris) would be in that group.  This is one of those odd parts of the story.

This was Joe's problem in the 1990s as he attempted to get national attention.  This was a problem for Harris in the 2019 debates, and the 2020 primary system.

As the two go forward (I assume) into 2021....it's a problem for them to get anything accomplished, without improving the charisma issue.  

So I'll predict....as you get into 2023 with President Harris.....she'll have competition in the primary, and likely be defeated in the primary system.  It'll be a remarkable moment.....which no one thought about in 2020.  

How Lid-Time Would Work with President Joe?

 This was on my mind today, and I finally came to five observations:

1.  In this case where Joe is slowly being affected by dementia....whatever amount of time that you see of Joe today (November 2020), you can carve it down by 30-percent by February 2021.  

So I would suggest on inauguration day....they wake Joe up about three hours prior to the ceremony....pep with the 'right' shot, and about three hours after oath, he quietly disappears while VP Harris carries out the rest of the day.

2. January to March?  While a lot of foreign dignitaries will want to meet with Joe....the appointments will be lined up for the morning hours only, and everything else will be handled by his chief-of-staff or VP.

3.  Staged public moments over the first-half of 2021?  Mostly all morning events.  

4.  Weekend events?  Virtually none.  He might be seen at Camp David occasionally, but by early summer....you won't see much of Joe.

5.  Some new term will be invented to replace 'lid-time' by the news media.  

If you examine the pace of dementia, and generally say his progress really started at the tail-end of 2019....he's at the first year closure.  With the latest and greatest in drugs.....I would suggest him getting through all of 2021, and issues continually noted by the last quarter of the year.  Him being taken out before mid-2022 (the next election period)?  I'm guessing that the plan is that he either stage an exit by January 2022, or try to make it to November 2022.  

Hiding this?  It just won't be easy unless he stays hidden out for the majority of time and keeps his mouth shut as much as possible.  

At the End of This Mess

 After a fair amount of pondering....I've come to three observations about the future of politics in the US....no matter who wins this election:

1.  Roughly fifty to sixty percent of the nation will be coming to the conclusion over the next twelve months that the election system is crapped out and unable to function  (as advertised).  

Blame will set upon various county officials, state political folks, news people, judges, and the national party system (both parties).  

'Banana Republic' will be uttered a great deal.  

2.  Right-leaners still voting with the Republicans?  I think a fair number of people will gaze at Fox News, and twenty-odd Republicans in the House and Senate....to say they more or less wanted Trump 'moved-on'. 

A third-party discussion will start up.  It might take three to four years, but I expect a full-up conservative party to exist by 2024, and mount some candidate.  Maybe he'll only get 12-percent of the national vote.  Maybe he only gets fifteen Electoral College votes.  But it'll the beginning of the end for the GOP.

The same occurring for the Democratic or left-leaners?  Maybe.  The Green Party already exists.  But there's probably room for non-urban Democratic Party....especially in the south.

3.  Finally, you can just sense an enormous amount of propaganda being dished-out on a daily basis.  You get propaganda via your local TV network, some local sports talk-show host, your local minister, your neighbor, your local school PTA 'bosses', and forty-odd individuals.  

Maybe it was marginally done back in the 1980s, but at the current pace of things....people are likely to start backing away from 'trust' and start to question virtually everything they see.  That's not exactly a good thing.

Observations

 1.  Two years ago, if you'd told me that the US might elect a dementia guy, with strong ties to money-laundering folks in Russia, China, and the Ukraine....and that his son was crackhead who was hired to arrange appointments for 'dad'....then telling me that his Vice would be a gal who moved up in her 20s by kneepad action for SF political figures....then I would have laughed and said it was BS.

2.  Jeff Bezos selling 3 billion dollars of Amazon stock?  Maybe setting things up to buy CNN?

3.  Hygiene teams wandering shopping districts in Germany.....hyping up good habits on avoiding Covid-19.

4.  If polls are this screwed up....why would we listen to them?

5.  Reflecting upon Fox News....it's probably time to dump them  News Max, ONE, and First TV....probably better choices.  

6. ESPN laying off 300 employees.  Maybe if they'd stuck to sports over the past three years....those folks would still be there.

7.  Trump won 45-percent of Latino vote in Florida.  

Puerto Rican State Status?

 One of the little things not openly discussed yesterday, from voting on Tuesday....the ballot on going for statehood in Puerto Rico occurred.  

The public voted 52 percent to go for statehood.

If you look at public opinion polls...up until mid-summer 2020....most islanders were neutral.  Since August?  It's gone to around 50-percent.

Next step?  They'd have to approach Congress and submit the paperwork.  What would they get?  Two Senators, and somewhere around five Representatives.  

Happening in 2021?  I would have my doubts.  It was marginally in 'yes' area.  The House delaying this for a minimum of two years?  Absolutely.  

The only situation?  Well....NO.  You see...Guam is approaching this same idea, with the adjacent area of the Mariana Islands wanting to be part of the package.  The Mariana group?  About 100 miles NE of Guam.  Population of the two?  Around 240k.  So they'd get the two Senators, but only get one single Representative.  

That's it?  NO.  You also have the DC statehood crowd, and they'd like to achieve status as well.  They'd get two Senators and one Representative.  

Likely nature of this?  Within ten years, I could see all three achieving this.  Is there room for six more Senators in the Senate floor?  That might be an issue.  Which states would give up seven House seats?  You'd be developing a huge mess for clean-up later.  

The Only Path Left

 For Trump, the path left is readily apparent.

His lawyers have to go and find various discrepancies throughout the system (not just one state, but probably five to ten states).  Upon presenting everything to the Supreme Court, the discussion will be....you have to throw out the count in these states. 

Once you admit fifty-odd EC votes don't exist....neither Joe Biden or Donald Trump can be elected via the Electoral College.  End of the game for that process.

So we progress to the House election method....the 3rd of January.  New House Speaker elected (likely to be Democrats in control).  I would question if Pelosi gets confirmed for another period.

Marginal efforts to occur for three weeks, and President Trump's era will close with no vote.  House Speaker would then assume the post because of the delays, with the Supreme Court ordering the Speaker (or replacement) to finally end this game and have the state-by-state vote.  26 will vote for Trump, and the 'game' ends.

For one brief day....the Speaker will likely serve as the President to make his or her point.

As comical as the scenario is....it's likely the path ahead.  So the game of getting a replacement judge on the Supreme Court was a necessary one.  

Civil war coming in mid-to-late January?  Yes.  The State-of-the-Union message?  Done mostly to a half-empty room.  Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland, and a dozen other cities on fire?  Probably.  

2021 and Joe

 At this point, unless some reversal of fate occurs with Arizona or Wisconsin....I'd say the election seems lost for Trump.  You add the Penn, NC and Georgia numbers, and Joe Biden will have just enough to win this.  So the future and how 2021 looks:

1.  State of the Union speech?  At least five different things will occur which will suggest Joe has dementia.  Nothing will be said by any analyst....even the Fox regular guys will just skip it.

2.  The wild budget bill for 2021?  McConnell will tell Joe and Nancy....it won't happen, start carving off the figures, and the added taxes.  This 'act' will continue until mid-July when some lite-spending bill is offered for a marginal period of time.

3.  Dementia for 2021?  As European leaders come in and want to share their thrills over Joe being there....most will return to Europe shaking their heads.  Gossip by March will have started up and then the EU realizes that Joe probably won't be around for more than twelve months.  

Joe traveling in 2021?  There might be two or three international trips planned for the first quarter, but the rest-time required for Joe to 'perform'....will make the accomplishments marginal at best.

Nancy Pelosi will have private meetings with the VP in June and July....to discuss the idea of getting Joe to retire from office by December.   In the same meeting.....replacement VP will be openly discussed, and I'd expect Cuomo (NY Governor).  The problem here?  The Senate and House both have a vote over the replacement VP.  I see two to three Republicans crossing the line....to make this occur.

4.  Mention of Joe after he leaves office?  No.  Within 30 days....virtually no network news team (even Fox) will discuss Joe Biden.  

5.  Hunter?  Well....he's got around six to nine months of real production left, and when Joe leaves....that's the end of the golden goose.

Hunter's laptop?  It's given back to him from the FBI....all investigations are ended by the end of February.  No charges.

Hunter will end up on some serious drug activity over the next three years.

6.  Saving NY City and California from financial disaster?  The Senate will quietly refuse.  The speed-up of people exiting both areas?  No doubt.

7.  How this will all be explained to people?  I don't think historians will chat about it over the next decade.  It'll be like the triggers to the depression era....just never openly discussed.

8. The economy?  Taxes can't go up....if the GOP holds to it's promises.  Some type of dynamic increase on industry alone?  It'll be rough enough to scare some companies into moving operations beyond the US shores.

China and Europe?  Back on good standing, and the GDP goes to marginal numbers above zero.  Unemployment starts to edge back up by the end of 2021.  

Life will go on but a fair number of people will linger over what existed in 2017 to 2019.  

9.  Comics?  Well....they are the big folks screwed.  You just can't make jokes over dementia folks.  So political humor will virtually disappear over the next twelve months.  

10.  TV news?  Fox, CNN and MSNBC are destined for the next twelve months to lose around 30 to 40 percent of their audience.  

11. Joe's attempt to fill the next Supreme Court judge with a Democrat-leaner?  I don't see it going well.  Maybe three GOP folks will cross over, but it'll be obvious that it harmed their careers.  

12.  The 'Green Deal'?  Forget about it passing until 2023.

Greenland in EC?

 Someone did the Electoral College up...to include Greenland votes, if they were 'bought' by Trump.

Most folks will laugh but Greenland would be entitled to Senators, and probably 2 to 3 House members.  They might vote pro-Trump....well, in a fantasy world.

Expectation of Tuesday Evening

After much reflection, three things I expect:

1.  No more than 20 states able to declare a winner by midnight.  

2.  Even by Friday night (6th), at least eight states still unable to declare a winner.

3.  Trump will top the 270 number around by the 9th of November, with five states (minimum) still unable to declare a winner.  Once you see Florida, Minn, Wis, and Michigan counted as Trump-wins.....the 270 number is pretty guaranteed. 

So, it serves no purpose to stay up late on the 2nd, or to get up early on the 3rd.  News journalists trying to whip up hype?  Why?  You might as well turn over to Bonanza or Gilligan's Island that evening, and not get all hyped. 

The f**ked-up nature of this election will be discussed for a decade, and various 'players' in the scheme....from the Post Office people, to county clerks having 3k dead people on their poll listings....will be left to explain this to state and federal audit folks.