Tuesday 26 May 2020

Just Observations

I saw this today....

647,457 people killed by heart disease.

599,108 people killed by cancer.

121,404 people killed by Alzheimers

Oddly, the NY Times or WaPo never puts that on their front page.  No one wants to count or remember those people. 

But someone else brought up this topic to ponder upon.  Just about every single state with a harsh view of shut-down....has a massive debt issue, and literally on the edge....thinking they will get government funding to renovate part of their debt in the end. 

Its a big gamble. 

If they guessed wrong?  It might be worth opening up a bottle of gin and discussing at length.

Finally I came to this one curious tidbit.  Out in the Hollywood area of California....cops are getting reports (maybe for a month now) of massive private parties going on in the foothills.  Sometimes dozens of cars parked and people inside.....partying.

Reason?  Well....the mayor and governor has down the shutdown thing.  So clubs and bars are completely barred to the public.

Now, if you were standing there....decent house....pool....big enough to handle 200 guests....what would be keeping you from operating a 'speak-easy' party...where guests paid $150 at the door, and got a catered dinner, with plenty of cheap cocktails, and some fake Latino band....walking away with $5k per night in profit (probably not reported to the IRS)?

I'm not saying it's happening, but most Americans are simply not so stupid to figure out the angle to this, and a way to clear $5k every night....with private parties. 

The cops?  If you attempt some take-down....you could be talking about a massive court case, and the fear of protests. 

Why People Don't Trust the Government

Most all urbanized 'mega' cities in the US now are run by Democratic Mayors and Democratic city councils.  They program the money, run their little empires, and prioritize where funding goes.

As I lived in the DC area (2010 to the summer of 2013), this story came up.

Somewhere around 2008/2009...this property on the east side of DC had been 'taken' by the city.  Property taxes and drug arrests had amounted to a fair sized mess, and grabbing the building made sense.  It would be classified as a property in fair state of disrepair, and marginally worth nothing.

So paperwork got generated.  Some sport group in the city sent the papers in and wanted the property taken for a kid's sport complex.  This wasn't clearly laid out, but the city had various high priorities for things relating to kid's sports in DC (especially the east-end).

So a fair sized chunk of money was allocated to fix the structure (I was told around 750,000 went into this....whether factional or not, I don't know).

So six months pass and the renovation is done. 

For a couple of months, the property is 'sat upon'.  Then, surprisingly enough....the city sells the property for a under-valued amount of money. 

What moves in?  A strip-club. 

Locals sat there and laughed over this.  It's doubtful that any member of the city council was really aware of the property grab in the first place....but they had to know of the renovation money and approved it in some way.  As for the sale?  They might have approved this without knowing much over the particulars. 

The 750k?  Just flushed down the toilet.

This is the problem of inner-city life, trusting politicians, and blacks feeling abandoned because they witness this daily....thinking any day now....things will improve.  And it never does resolve itself.

The positive of this?  At least with the present management crew and stripper action....property taxes are being generated.  Hopefully, they go over into the city pocket, so they can find other worthwhile things to renovate.  Or maybe more future stripper clubs get renovated. 

Simply Observations

1.  Isn't there a lot of concerned folks over drug consequences and side-effects (for this 'miracle' drug)?

Well, this is the funny part of this discussion.  There are 10,000-odd drugs on the market, and virtually all of them have side-effects and potential consequences, and these people NOW wake up, and start some Baptist-minister type sermon on the evil consequences or side-effects?  Just taking Milk of Magnesia has a side-effect.

2.  Odds of NFL or NCAA football occurring?

I'd give it a 1-percent chance.  For some NCAA players, it's the end of their dream and likely to trigger some folks to get suicidal.

3.  People talking over Chicago's big weekend?

Yeah.....nine dead folks and thirty-six wounded.....all gunshots.  News folks don't even chat about knife wounds....such marginal news.

4.  Stephen King defending Corona?

We live in a crazy world.  Someone went and suggested that the 'STAND' (one of King's big classic stories which concerns a virus) is nowhere near being like Corona.

Here's the thing, if you use the basic plot....then it's a lot like the movie STAND.

But King came out in the past couple of days and said 'no way'....the STAND is a lot scarier.

Now, if we start having dead cats and dogs come back to life....that might perk everyone's interest a bit.

5.  The real story to Flynn and all this trouble?

Off Tablet, there is a 30-minute reading session there, which lays out the entire story from beginning to end, and why President Obama get all jerked-up over Flynn.

A lot of this circles around the Iran deal, and how some major legacy was being created to invent a 'new' Iran.

I strongly recommend a read of Tablet's article....worthy I think of a Pulitzer. But expect it to take 30 minutes.

6.  Should people being masks while driving cars?

Sure.  Even when they are driving a tractor around, or operating a chain-saw, or doing kissy-face with their secret-girlfriend.

7.  Karenlandia?

It's a new word for a place where people act crazy and confrontational.....twenty-four hours a day.....without the aid of drugs (seemingly impossible, I'll admit).

8.  Jeff Sessions?

There was a time and place for a fake-Republican to be a Senator for Alabama.  That day has passed though.

9.  This video from yesterday of Joe Biden at the veteran's cemetery?

Well, toward the end of it....Joe and the wife are walking back to the SUV.  Joe is in sunglasses and looks awful stiff (like he'd been out bailing and hauling 500 bales of hay).  Just seemed odd.  Also, looking at his lean build....he can't weigh more than 135 pounds.

10.  Is Japan's Constitution a bit odd?

Well....for some odd reason, with this coming after 1945 with their updated Constitution.....they wrote up a piece of text which basically says....there cannot and will not be compulsory lock-downs.  What you see in Virginia or Michigan....can't be produced in Japan.

In some ways, it's a stoic piece of text which suggests that panic and chaos are NOT to be part of society.

You have to admit the Japanese are thoughtful.