Observations:

 1.  New CEO of Twitter (Parag Agrawal) says that the company (Twitter) will not be 'bound' by the first amendment (Free Speech).

After a long pause and bit of pondering....I thought about the term 'bound'. The first amendment allows for free and open discussion, free ability to assemble (in a yard, church, cornfield), and the ability to exchange ideas without limits on conversation.  

So this guy Agrawal is basically saying he's all for hindering free speech, not exchanging ideas and stopping the ability to assemble?  The first amendment does nothing to bound.....it unbounds anything in its path.  

How Twitter will exist under Agrawal?  I'd suggest you are looking at the light at the end of the tunnel....their demise.

2.  Someone did a poll on Biden's Build-Back-Better.  52-percent of people have something negative to say about it.

3.  Just my hunch....Chris Cuomo on CNN?  He's got about 30 to 60 days of employment left before they launch him into a non-news job.  

4.  Just a page six story.....the FAA came up and admitted around 700 other Eppstein flights that no one seemed to know about.  Who was on the flights?  Unknown.  

5.  What the defense said the first day of the Jussie Smollett court episode?  They say Jussie was a victim....of a highly sophisticated team of twins....then tossing the label of 'highly intelligent' on the two.  Basically, he's labeling his own client as non-intelligent and non-sophisitcated....in doing so.  

The question is....will a jury believe this?

CNN Today

 I tried to watch a CNN piece today.....where they had three folks trying to explain President Biden 'poor' numbers.  Approval rating as of today?  36-percent.

About 10 minutes into this....you just felt it was like listening to some 5th grade kids trying to explain why the Professor couldn't get the Skipper/Gilligan off the island, or why the Power Rangers were so lame.

Look....Joe Biden doesn't care if he has a 1000-percent approval rating or a 1-percent approval rating.  He got elected to replace Donald Trump....so you gotta just accept him being the one running things.

As for CNN even doing this?  They might as well drive a RV around NY City's east side, and go looking for robbers.  People that voted for Joe really don't want to hear CNN explain things.  

Odds of the approval rating getting below 30-percent?  It just doesn't matter.  Joe's going nowhere, and you just need to get used to it.

Plan Nine

 This morning, without much in the news....I ended up watching Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956).  Well....I attempted to watch it.  After about 45 minutes of it....I started to flick it a minute ahead for every eight minutes.  

So for the basic story....there's some aliens who are concerned about Earth folks creating a doomsday bomb.  They've come to Earth with some plan (fairly marginal if you view their advance society) to halt the whole thing.  Some of this involves use of dead bodies.....which makes little sense.  

Script-wise?  It's like you hired four doped-up guys to write some 3 x 5 inch index cards, and just hand them out to the actors....to fake their way to a 80-minute movie.

Why I went and watched it?  There's talk that Hollywood wants to take the movie....redesign it, and make a 2022 version of it.

So here's thing....in the 1950s....drive-in movies were fairly popular, and some studios saw a great moment when you'd go and hire some folks to make a double-header.  With this concept, you had two movies announced for the weekend (back to back)....making people think they got tremendous value (one entry ticket) for two cheapo movies.  

Total cost for the movie?  Wiki says $80,000.  That would be $770k today.

Could you rewrite the whole thing to make sense, without it being a comedy or come off as fairly fake?  I'm not sure about this.

The thing is....from the 1950s/1960s....there are just a ton of bad movies....all designed for drive-in theaters, and people of that era have a fond memory.  You can go back and ask a 75-year old guy about his evening of watching 'Plan 9', and he start to grin.....to talk over 'Wanda' or 'Betty' and the lusty evening he had.  He remembers her bra size, her use of the word 'tantalizing', and the memory of that Saturday evening.  He remembers literally nothing about the movie, or the aliens. 

Kind of funny, if you think about it.

The Problem With Michelle Obama Running in 2024

 In the past ten days, if you pay attention to MSNBC or CNN....the folks are already talking past the mid-term....to 2024.  1,075 days?  Yeah....it's that far away.  

The necessity?  Well....I think the Einstein-crowd has figured out....Joe Biden can't run, and any hope of VP Harris regaining some popularity is now gone.  

The three folks I'd figure to be in the Democratic Primary: Mayor-Pete, Stacey Abrams, and Senator Booker of NJ.  

Mayor-Pete will survive through twenty-odd primaries, but from the first four (that truly matter)....pretty much zero chance of winning any of those.  

Abrams and Booker figure heavily into NH, SC, Nev, and Iowa.  

We come to the new chatter....that Michelle Obama will go out in 2022 and do a few 'talks' (like Hillary Clinton was famous for) in urban-magnet places (I figure NY City, SF, Chicago, and LA).  

I think political players will ask what office she's ever held, and she's in a lower position than Mayor-Pete.  If you went to resume material?  I can't think of a single President or VP, from the past two-hundred years with such a dismal resume.

If she had left DC in 2016 and done the Hillary route (gotten a NY Senator job)....it'd be different.  

So we have a person with a 3 x 5 inch index card resume, and simply gives speeches.  Yes, she was married to Barak, but that really doesn't say much.  

On the Iowa-SC-NV-NH route?  There's just a 1-percent chance should carry one single state, and most cases....she'd likely finish in a 3rd or 4th place.  

I turn and face the CNN/MSNBC crowd, and just stand there....shaking my head.  You might as well start a rumor that Oprah will run, or maybe Colin Kaepernick.  In Iowa-SC-NV-NH for those two?  It's a one-percent chance as well.  

If you ask me....Joe might as well run a 2nd time.  

Omikron?

 When I heard this new Covid name....Omikron....my mind asked questions:

1.  It sounds like some bad-guy alien that Captain Marvel or Ironman would go and fight.

2.  It sounds like a disco in Amsterdam with Russian hookers.

3.  It sounds like one of the Transformer guys.

4.  It sounds like a SF deli sandwich, with lots of goat cheese. 

5.  It sounds like some forbidden Soviet secret test site out of the 1950s.

6.  It sounds like a South Korean zombie series.

7.  It sounds like a failed Chrysler 1970s model.

8.  It sounds like a WWE professional wrestler with LED lights made into his shorts.

9.  It sounds like some planet that Captain Kirk and Scotty visited, where Kirk messed around with the Omi-women, and Scotty messed with the Kron-women.  Neither ever discussed that trip ever again.

10. It sounds like a budget beer that you'd pick up at the liquor shop....with some Amazon-like Norwegian gal on the label, and it's 16-percent alcohol.  

The Terrible Woes of Crossing State Lines

 Over the past month, I probably watched about three hours of MSNBC and CNN.....mostly covering the Rittenhouse court case.  So it's an odd thing that they dragged out and verbally hyped....at least twenty times....that Rittenhouse had crossed state lines.

So I pulled out the map eventually.....thinking he must have driven 300 miles by himself, and crossed the state line.

Well...NO, from where he lived....it was a 1-minute drive (1-mile) to the state line.  Kenosha, the city?  After you pass the state line, it's a three-minute drive (I-94) and roughly a 3-mile distance to the city limits.  

This hype....over and over about crossing state lines?  After you reflect upon the drive....it's like some 9-year-old kid trying hype up the idea of dragons possibly existing in the woods.

As a kid....living 3 miles south of the Tennessee state line....I had probably crossed the line about a hundred times myself (on my Honda bike) by age 15.....without parental consent.  With a car, between age 16 and 18.....I probably crossed another 200 times by myself, without parental consent. 

In the Air Force, I got to talking one time with a guy who'd gotten dragged into a family issue....someone had to go across four states and pick-up Grandma....to retrieve her.  No one in his family (father, mother, older siblings) wanted the duty (Grandma talked an awful lot).  So this guy volunteered....driving from the south part of Missouri to Miami.  His age at the time?  Sixteen (he'd had his license for three months).  

In the minds of these CNN idiots....all this state crossing of lines is just terribly serious for some juvenile kid.  

From the kids I knew in 1977....you could have entrusted any of them to drive from Bama to California....by themselves.  Some might have gone a thousand miles out of their way, on some weird route.  But there's no chaos in some kid crossing state lines.  

Joe's Gas Problem

 Yesterday, the average price of unleaded fuel in California was $4.71.  

What happens when January arrives and Joe's action resets the price of fuel up (not down) to $5.00?  

Whether the White House believes it or not....there is this clock ticking and the Joe-action gimmick needs to show something.  If the price escalates 30 cents....you can figure that the primary action for the mid-terms....gets real interesting.

Best Laugh of the Day

 South Park (the cartoon) is doing an episode this week of the South Park years after Covid, and how it changed the town.

The amusing thing, as you click to view this preview via YouTube....they've put a Covid-warning notice up.....trying to herd you to YouTube chatter over Covid knowledge.  The episode has nothing to do with the vaccination or info....just how a fictitious town looks years later.  

AOC in 2024?

 Question: Will Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of NY....run for President in 2024?  

She actually meets the age requirement....in case you were wondering.

First, there is such a weak field out there....that I think she could see some 'path' existing.  Mayor-Pete, for all practical purposes....just isn't prime-time material (while he will run anyway and remove himself after a dozen-odd primary situations).  Harris will test the system, and find little-to-no-interest in the first four primary states.  

So I'm projecting AOC to be one of the top three players in this election.  

All of this 'gaming' the system for Trump?  It is an odd period where you just walk from one chaos to another, and no Democratic leadership is really performing at the level you'd expect.  If Obama were around in this chaos....he fire or relieve a cabinet figure or two.  

I'm going with the AOC idea and think with some hired competent campaign experts....she can probably make a run (failing of course).  

Ending of Jason

 This week, General Hospital (the soap) fired one of it's guys.....Steve Burton (plays Jason Morgan).  Reason?  No Covid vaccination.

How I would have handled this?

I would have written up a parting-week, where the character Jason Morgan got Covid, and got taken to a fake ICU.....all messed up on health.

Throughout the week....I would have had Nurse Greta show up and weep....over her secret affair with Jason....then I would have had trampy 'Wendy' show up to weep over her secret lover, and then I would have had Jason's ex-wife Maggie show up and whisper 'screw you' over and over....hating him for leaving her for Bob (his bi-friend).

Around day four, I would have introduced Wong-Wong as a new nurse from Wuhan, who has arrived to save Jason.....mostly giving him oriental herbs and putting mustard on his tongue.

On Friday, Jason would have died, and then some fed doctor would have shown up to save if he'd just taken the vaccination he would have survived. 

Finally, I'd bring in President Biden for a 2-minute chat.....remembering Jason as a guy he'd see on the train each day.....going home from Washington DC, and he was a fine guy....who had great taste in lusty women, and the world weeps over his stupidity in not getting vax'ed up.

In the final moments....a new guy would have arrived on the street.....Jason's third cousin.....Marvin....who is fully vax'ed and is mostly a male model who hooks up with trailer-trash women.  

The Thing About Bail

 Lot of hype this week over bail conditions in various states.

If you stand back and review the landscape.....bail was the tool to ensure 'Joe', who'd done some pretty bad stuff....would return to court on X-day to face a judge.  

If you ended bail (which is going on nationally in various states)....the odds of 'Joe' coming to the judge?  No one publishes data, but I doubt if 'Joe' pays attention to this matters, and just disappears.

Personally, it'd make sense to avoid bail for non-violent and non-drug 'Joes'.  But the minute you start talking about assault or serious drug cases....you need serious bail to get their attention.  

Trying to make this a black/white issue?  Where in the Constitution is there some dividing line?  Show me.  

AOIMSG?

 This week, the Pentagon did a re-organization of the UFO hunter crowd....renaming it 'Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group' and making it a joint group (not Navy as in the previous program).....so Army and Air Force folks are 'invited' to participate.

Why reorg?  I think the Navy took it as far as they possibly could, and it needs a more broad approach.  

The name 'Synchronization' in this?  I've pondered over this for several days.  In the old days....it meant you took several programs and merged them....sometimes with success....sometimes creating a massive failure.

The chance that some general was given the reins and he just wanted "S" in the middle of AOIM*G?  Well....yeah, there are Air Force officers who would do this to have 'MSG' at the end of the term (pretty silly but possible).

As for what happens now?  Years ago, 1980s.....the Air Force sat down and designed an exercise for Europe.  The gimmick?  They wanted to arrange x-number of NATO aircraft in a pattern that would come from several locations and meet over West Germany for a brief five minutes....to see what the Soviets would do.  Stupid?  On a massive scale, and about two weeks after this idea was put up on the board....it was removed as a 'test'.  Too many people would have freaked out and some crazy crap might have occurred.

It wouldn't shock me if these AOIMSG guys finally sat down and designed a test like this and caught the UFO guys in a net where they can't turn in any direction without a full signature of their action....with satellites and collection gear maxed out.  

Marvs-9 (the alien dude)?  He's sitting there and probably speculating on these guys.  You really don't want to be the first alien caught by those stupid Earthlings.  

All of this leading to something caught in a 'net'?  Well....maybe.  

This Brooks Character From Waukesha

 Three observations:

1.  For twenty-odd years (probably going back to his teen years)....this guy has been a drugged-up character.  In the past decade, I doubt if there's a single day that passed....that he didn't do some type of drug.  He was unhappy with life.  He was not achieving much of anything.  The drugs deaden the pain of that miserable existence.

2.  The twenty-plus pages of charges over the years?  The serious ones were negotiated down by prosecutors to get him the lowest amount of time in prison/jail.  If any one of the DA's had done their legal duty....he'd probably done real time in jail.  

3.  The next month for him in jail will be rough....without any drug access.  Might be the first time in 20 years that he went an entire week without drugs.  

Observations

 1.  News crew in Oakland was going out to cover a story....with a security guy accompanying them.  Friendly group came up upon them, and shot/wounded the security guard.  Signs of Mogadishu?  Inside the urban zones of SF and LA, it's just not that safe anymore.

2.  The German Euthanasia Association (there to help you end your suffering) has now said that they won't help you unless you are vaccinated for Covid.  The fact that you will be dead within a period of time with them helping you.....is a bit amazing.  

3.  After Hillary Clinton made her comment that we should all double down and be appreciative of Joe Biden's accomplishments as President....made me try to remember anything she did as Secretary of State for four years.  It must have been a very remarkable period, but I can't remember anything of the period.

4.  New shortage: Alcohol.  Dailywire reports that some states are reporting a shortage on hard alcohol.  Beer?  No.  

Joe's Ten Months

 My description of the past ten months?

If there was a rat problem at the White House....of ten possible solutions (even bringing in a dozen cats as one)....he will go to solution number eleven, thus increasing and doubling the rat problem.

I can't recall people being like this....that stumble from crisis to crisis, and mostly offer solutions that drag a problem out to a further distance, or make the problem even worse.

If you had a farmer like this....he'd be out-of-business in a single year.

If you had a chief of police like this.....he might linger around for a year or two, but be dragged into the mayor's office weekly for a discussion about screw-ups.

So none of this makes much sense.  The crew around him?  They have to be mostly dimwits or marginalized college students who got a meaningless degree.

This is usually where some boss would step in....thump a guy hard on correcting his mistakes, and give the guy a month to clean up his act, or be let go.  Presently, we've got three years of this to go.

Harris?  She can't say a word.  I don't think Joe would accept any advice from her.  The rest of the cabinet?  Losers.  When you needed competence out of Mayor Pete.....you found he was sitting at home on 'rest'.  

So, just settle back.  

How The Rittenhouse Case on President Biden Will Go?

 Just a humble opinion. 

Shortly after Christmas, I expect a defamation lawsuit to be started President Biden for his comments accusing Rittenhouse of being a 'white supremist'.

Amount?  I would suggest in the range of $10-million, with a personal apology issued from the White House.

CNN and the crew wilf laugh over the situation, and somewhere around March....two big-name lawyers will be hired by President Biden.

Some amount of $25,000 will be offered to Rittenhouse to just shut up and drop the case.

Along the end of 2022, I expect the President to be worried over the incoming Republican majority in the House, and expect Joe's team to offer around $100,000.  The case will end early 2023.....Rittenhouse winning and being awarded the $10-million.

Impeachment burden?  This will be added to the list.  

As for where the money will come from?  Well...Hunter, of course.  This will trigger a House review of just how much money that Joe has siphoned off Hunter over the past decade, and the tax implications.  

Can Biden Be a Lame Duck President at the Second-Year Point?

 You can ask a lot of stupid questions over this lame duck situation, and it should not have come up over the past week.  But it's being asked a good bit.

If Biden says 'no'....he won't run....what happens?  Generally, people believe that Mayor-Pete and VP Harris are the top two for the 2024 election.

People thrilled about this?  On Harris, I suspect if you measured Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada....I don't think she has much to hope for.  On Mayor Pete....he might have some standings in Nevada, but he's got the logistics mess on his accomplishments list.  

In simple terms, the Democrats don't need 2022 or 2023 with President Biden listed as a lame duck.  It hurts the mid-terms of 2022, and the House/Senate race in 2024. 

Stacey Abrams as a contender?  Well...over the weekend, I read two pieces that went at her odds.  She has no message that resonates much with Iowa or New Hampshire folks.  On making speeches....if she hired two or three competent people....she might get some traction.  But her chief problem....she has a 3 x 5 inch index card for a resume.  There's no accomplishments that show strength or character.

Cuomo from NY?  Totally out.

Newsome from California?  He says he's not in the running (I have my doubts it'll stay that way).

Bernie Sanders?  He says he's finished for Presidential campaigns.

Warren?  She kinda noticed from the 2020 campaign....there's just zero thrills over her efforts.

For lame duck thrills?  You really don't want to enter 2022....with people already hyping up lame duck status for Biden.  You'd have to hear at least one question every day at the press conference....if Biden thinks he's a lame duck guy.  

Did anyone really think much about this in November 2020?  No.  That's the curious part of this discussion.  It's like some guy waking up in some Twilight Zone episode and not recognizing much of anything familar.  

Afghan Woes

 Over the weekend, I watched BBC news.  They came to a new topic over the Taliban and Afghanistan....relating to TV productions.

After some review, the Taliban concluded that there was no decency in TV productions.  So there are some new rules.

1.  Foreign films shown on Afghan TV (Rambo for example), can't be shown, if they promote foreign lifestyles/cultures. Depending on how you interpret this.....about 90-percent of what used to be on Afghan TV.....can no longer be shown.  Alice in Wonderland, Little Shop of Horrors, Three Amigos.....out.  

2.  Any kind of show which might in some way....insult Islam....is forbidden.  

3.  Any show/movie which might show a bit of a guy's chest...is forbidden.  

4.  Any show/movie with women in a leading role....is forbidden.  It's ok to show them in the background, or demonstrate a woman preparing a meal for the husband.  Beyond that....no women in primary roles.

What'll happen to the TV networks?  I'm guessing that they will go to mostly scripted shows where Muhammad-Joe has transmission problems, and discusses this with Muhammad-Bob.  Or you might have four guys building a house, and discussing roofing strategies for an hour.  Or you might have a farmer discussing his foot fungus problem.

In simple terms....the DVD business is going to erupt and folks will be quietly renting the entire season of Amish Mafia, or the five Rambo movies.  

About a year or two into this....various Taliban members will comment to the top guy....it's just pretty boring at night....no one wants to watch three guys spend an hour cleaning rifles, or watch some 80-year-old guy tell one of his six snake stories over and over.

The senior Taliban guy will tell them to just shut up, and quietly go back to watching his 1982 DVD set of the Dynasty series.  He thinks that Joan Collins is 'hot'.  

Unique Business Idea

A couple of years ago, I spent some time in Den Haag, Netherlands.

Walking around the streets, I eventually came across this one business.

It's a combination vintage guitar shop and tattoo-piercing shop.

It's an odd combination.  Kinda like a chainsaw-and-muffin shop, or a fishing bait-and-barber shop.

Course, I should note that across the street is a Dutch coffee shop (meaning....joints or marijuana).  My guess is that the guy started off as one type of business, and after a while....he chilled out....going to a secondary business.

The Truth About Moderate Republicans

At some point around 2004, I remember watching some Sunday political chat show and some intellectual type journalist hyped up the idea that moderate Republicans were the way to go.  The idea was....if you just had some centralist GOP guy....things would go fine with Democrats supporting the guy.  For several years, I hear the expression repeated over and over.  At some point around 2012 (with Mitt Romney), I figured that the magic expression would finally work, and the general public would likely vote for Mitt...instead of Barrack.  Well....I was wrong.

In the last five years, I've come to this conclusion....Democrats vote for Democrats, and Republicans vote for Republicans, and independents are locked in for policy changes or particular reforms only.  The theme of a moderate Republican?  It is non-existent.  It's like a magic unicorn.

I will admit, it's a nifty catch-phrase, and folks can be led to believe that some Democrats might cross an imaginary line for a moderate Republican.  The problem is if you ask a hundred Democrats....there's probably only one or two who would fall into this strategy. 

So it's mostly just a gimmick of provocateurs, to keep convincing naive Republicans and independent voters....into thinking that there is such a person existing and that the public might vote for him.   

When people stand there and suggest to you about finding this mythical creature....the moderate Republican....ask them to identify the moderate Democrat instead.  The pause will last for a while.

Observations

 1.  People who identify (like trans) as vaccinated....are vaccinated (believing it is 99.9-percent of the 'game').....even if they aren't vaccinated.  

2.  Joe Biden has said that if you (as a company) pay no taxes....then his new gameplan would require you to pay 15-percent of your income. 

If you think about this, then you should avoid no-taxation, and pay $500....to say you do pay taxes, rather than pay $5-million as your tax requirement.

3.  The odds of Joe Biden's vaccination program reaching 70-percent of the nation?  I give it a 1-percent chance of happening.  

4.  If your kid wrapped up high school and graduated....then you found that he was marginally at the level of a 7th grade kid, should you blame the current system, or just accept it as part of the new bold world we live in?

How Alabama Fell into the RussiaGate/Trump Saga

 As things started to heat up in the 2016 primary season....it was painfully obvious for the 1 March 2016 primary in Alabama....that Trump would win (there was NOT a single county in the state where anyone other than Trump led).  So a couple of weeks prior....Senator Jeff Sessions came out and did an endorsement of Trump.

You can argue that Sessions really didn't need to do this.  He could have just kept quiet.  But this was an overwhelming vote for Trump anticipated, and Sessions needed to be in the 'wave'.  He'd won in 2014 and had four years on his Senate job. 

Right around this March period (the 22nd)....Governor Bentley went and Spencer Collier (the state Law Enforcement Agency 'boss'.  Chief reason, accusation of illegal spending of state funds.  I should state for the record, a complete audit was done after this firing....showing zero funds illegally spent.

Shortly after this firing (having nothing to do with the Sessions episode)....Collier came out and accused Bentley of an affair.  I should state for the record....Bentley was in his early 70s.  The player in this accusation?  Bentley's senior political adviser.....Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

About a week into this episode (front-page news in Alabama)....Mason resigned from her office.  Just prior to the resignation....an audio recording became public....with a lot of chatter between Mason and the Governor.

Around the first week of April, an effort was mounted by Ed Henry (Rep from the state) to impeach Bentley.  

So this odd thing comes up.  While the state constitution allows for impeachment....the House itself does not have this process written down.  In simple terms, no one knew how to impeach.  So they spent a fair amount of time talking over this, and writing a process.

November arrives, and the big shocker (even for Senator Sesions)....Trump wins.  

Very quickly, a list is developed for Trump and oddly enough....Sessions is listed for the Attorney General position.  

To be honest about Sessions....he's not a pure Republican.  Like Shelby (the 2nd Senator)....Sessions is mostly a pretender-Republican.

All the way to this pick, if you'd asked Sessions if he'd ever met a Russian in his entire life....he'd likely answer no.  I doubt if he could even count off one hand....the number of Mexicans he'd met in his life.

In January, Sessions walks into DC, and ends up as Attorney General....meaning his Senate seat is empty.

Governor Bentley?  Still around, and yet to be impeached (figure eight months now of chatter).

The Alabama Attorney General during this whole affair business (since 2011)?  Luther Strange, Republican.

The investigation led by Strange?  It can be said that it was done at a snail's speed.  Strange is oddly enough selected by Governor Bentley to be the replacement for Jeff Sessions.....taking the seat in early Feb of 2017.  

Sessions ends up being asked routine questions for his clearance, and now proclaims he met a Russian a while back.  There's almost no details to this, but it just stands out and is kinda admired as 'odd' by most Alabama folks.  

So when RussiaGate starts up....Sessions can't preside over this, and he has to go and appoint a Special Counsel. Choice?  Robert Mueller (mid-May 2017).  

For about a year, Mueller's team is drilling down into what will be a simple case of getting Trump into a room....getting a statement out of him, and then accusing him of a false statement.  

But this odd thing comes up around early 2018, with Deputy AG Rosenstein.  It comes out that he was almost ready at one point in 2017....to wear a wire into the White House (face-to-face meeting with Trump).  This was an effort to get Trump to say something....to be used to take him down. 

Once this gets out....Rosenstein now has a problem.  Just suggesting he might do this....makes him into a potential criminal.  All the way to this point....Rosenstein used almost no real control over Mueller and his team.  Things now change.

Within a month of this issue....Rosenstein has given strong directions to the Mueller team....the case needs to end.  Trump's cooperation?  Mueller's team is given only the chance of asking written questions, and getting written answers in return.  

The whole value of Sessions picking Mueller, and this getting rid of Trump?  Zero'ed out.  Along November of 2018, Sessions is fired by Trump.  

Bentley in this landscape?  Just as charges finally get handed to the House of Alabama (mid-April 2017)....he resigns.  

Strange at this point?  Feeling safe in his new job?  Well....come spring of 2017....the new governor (Ivey) has decided this was all a 'deal' made and routes the situation to a temp deal for Strange.  New election to come.

Strange is pitted against Roy Moore in the primary.  Strange by this point?  His 'deal' has added a burden to his campaign.....he can't win.  Maybe Ivey (the governor) knew this.  

Moore as the Republican in the December 2017 special election, again Jones (the Democrat)?  Moore is seen as a nutcase, and loses (only a 20-thousand vote difference though).

Somewhere in this whole two-year saga is a 700-page book waiting to be written, with serious politics, fake Republicans, an Alabamian who seems to have met one single Russian in his life, red-hot sex between a 70-year old Governor and some political handler, and some dimwit who thought he could wear  a wire into a meeting at the White House.  

Oh, and the plea deal for Bentley?  He basically has to accept the lifetime ban on political office....with strictly a misdemeanor situation.  As for this Mason gal and the Governor?  In mid-summer 2018....she was employed in some way for Bentley's medical practice.  In Alabamian terms.....they still hang out.

Oh, and one added note for Mueller.  By the time he wrapped up his two-investigation and gave a 'talk' at the Senate....it was obvious that he was starting to show serious dementia problems.  Just a humble opinion, but I'd say he was two years into the health decline.  I doubt that Rosenstein or Sessions knew this when they introduced him into the mess....but the twenty-odd people working for him....had to grasp that he was in a failing state of mind.  

Zimbabwe and Covid

 This is a little story over Covid and how things worked in an odd way.

So in Zimbabwe, Covid arrived in the spring of 2020.  They got all the way to July of 2020.....before Covid deaths started up (remember, their winter starts in July....at least to what you'd describe as just a rainy season).  Five deaths in one single day were confirmed.

For the record, Zimbabwe has a population of around 14-million, and size-wise....it's about the same as California in terms of size.

In terms of new cases?  They were averaging around 100-to-140 per day, in that first big wave of Jun-Jul-Aug.  Naturally, you'd say....it's a third world country, and they simply aren't testing at the same rate.  Around December of 2020, the rate bounced way up....with deaths reported daily at around 20 to 50 a day for the entire country.  

Shortly after Christmas of 2020....an unusual matter occurred where in a ten day period....three key ministers in the cabinet of Zimbabwe passed on, from Covid.  Then the government did this odd thing....they approved ivermectin as a Covid drug.  The death rate from 31 January to the end of February?  It dropped like a rock.  Five deaths were reported on 1 March 2021, from Covid.

They get all the way to June.....with an average of 1 to 3 deaths per day noted.

June sees a dramatic rise in Covid deaths....eventually rising to a max of 81.  Since 21 September 2021?  Well....its been around zero to four (on average) daily.  That's it.  

So here's the odd factor....if you asked the health folks about the vaccination rate?  it's around six to seven percent.  That's it.

Ivermectin alone doing this?  I doubt it.....there's probably a vitamin D angle to this, and some odd local practices.  

Getting Ivermectin?  Well....before this came along....this was a normal prescription drug....given out for a very cheap price.  After the approval for Covid....the price kinda escalated.  If you wanted a 'shot' of Ivermectin....that was going up to around $5 (US).....probably ten times of the previous price.  Yeah, some folks were still getting rich off what was a cheap drug.

Should you even bring the Zimbabwe thing up in conversation?  No.  An intellectual would say it's a 3rd-world 'hell-hole' and the data is all faked-up.  To be honest, before Covid came along...Zimbabwe averaged around 111 deaths per year per 100,000 residents....from the flu/pneumonia.  I would imagine that if you dug through the numbers....it was mostly older people who fell into the death numbers (just like Covid).

How I See the Rittenhouse Situation Playing Out

 Whatever money that Nick Sandmann has made off lawsuits of news organizations insulting him....I see Rittenhouse making twice the amount of Sandmann.

Who to sue?

1.  CNN/MSNBC to start with.  

2.  WaPo and the NY Times probably did enough insults with the term 'White Supremist' to get them on the list.

3.  President Biden?  Yeah....he's got a comment or two.  He'll be dragged in for insults.

4.  The Hollywood crowd?  They will be shocked with court documents arriving at their door and offering them a one-time chance to settle.  Some will swear off social media for the rest of their lives after they settle.  

5.  Facebook/Meta and Twitter?  Based on content and them not using their 'God-given' powers?  They will be in court as well.

6.  Finally, the GoFundMe crowd, who prevented fund-raising for Rittenhouse....will find themselves dragged in.

7.  The political crowd who started up on Friday suggesting they will get the Attorney General hyped up to do an FBI investigation on 'other' charges?  They will be dragged into court.  Even the FBI agents who attempt to conduct an investigation.....will be dragged into court. 

There's just tons of money laying there, and this could go on for five to ten years.  Lawyers just standing there in shock of the easy work....the cash to flow?  It'll bring tears to their eyes.

That Griis Kid

 Back in the 1670s....we have this episode that unfolded with the 'Gävle Boy' in Sweden.

It's an epic piece, but I'll try to tell the story in forty lines.

Griis was his first name.....son of a shoe-maker.  

Somewhere around age ten to twelve.....some episode occurred in the village (far east side of Sweden).  No one has the entire story, but it appears that the village had this witch episode start up, and Griis had made an accusation or two....over his mother being a witch.

We know that his dad had passed away in this period, and it would appear that they (Griis and his mother) were not on good relations.

There was this island that folks would claim was a witch's 'hangout'....called Blockula.  If you got dragged to this island.....you were under some spell, and probably having demons within (so the belief was).  Griis had said that at some point....mama was a witch.....had taken him to Blockula....and had physical relations with him

Naturally, folks got upset....a witch case started up, and everything that Griis spoke of....was regarded as true.  The mother?  She was eventually executed.

After this....folks in Stockholm took an interest in the kid....regarding him as an expert on Witchcraft.

All this led to Griis being regarded as an expert on cult stuff, and demons.

There's roughly a period of 12 to 18 months where witchcraft was a big deal.

Eventually, enough of the stories were deemed far-fetched, and fake.....and the authorities finally decided that Griis had to be executed....to get people off the subject.

So around 1677....the government ordered all the priests in the country to deem the witch problem to be gone.  Anyone on the accused list?  Well....they were more or less stamped 'cured' and non-threatening. 

What Griis was executed for?  Well....since witchcraft was cured....he had to be executed for false testimony.  

I would imagine for a decade or two after that.....Griis was brought up and folks wondered what happened to him to make up the whole story.  

Topics of Conversation

 My brother brought up this related subject....having guests over and how couches might influence a situation (his intention to get new living room furniture).  In Alabama, this type of purchase leads off into different directions....especially if you were to buy a funny-looking couch with a deer/bear design in the landscape.

I contemplated conversation in Alabama now, versus the 1960s/1970s.

In those days, folks tended to come over after work, or on a Sunday.  

Typical chat topics from fifty years ago?  The weather, NCAA football, some recent episode of the Virginian TV series, road paving schedule for next summer, school bus accidents, so-and-so being sent off to a mental facility in Montgomery, more ticks than usual, hunting episodes gone wrong (usually involving alcohol), a fired Baptist minister from the local area, some local guy going to Daytona Beach for the race, or so-and-so flying off from Huntsville to New York City.  

So, if you go and ask folks now....in 2021....the chat topics are vastly different: Covid, the weather, corruption in NCAA football, some reality TV series that is deemed awful fake, meth-heads, police raids, so-and-so's wife who has gone to alcohol rehab, houses broken into and robbed, women's immodest attire, Trump (either for or against), juveniles kicked out of school, some teacher who appears to be an unidentified gender (not male or female), Chinese products in the house which seem to fail within six months of purchase, and so-and-so who flew from Huntsville to the Philippines who seems content there and will never return.  

I read a piece from a guy last year (Covid era) who noted that he felt more content that guests weren't visiting him more often and lessening the dramatic or trashy talk in his life.  

Back in 2016, I read some guy's chatter about ill feelings with relatives that would stop by and let him know it was ok with Jesus if he didn't vote for Trump.  They seemed to show up more frequently as election day approach....with increasing amount of hype to avoid voting Trump.  He felt relief after the 2016 election, while the relatives were in some uneasy state of mind....like they'd emerged from their car in the middle of the Amazon jungle.

In some ways, I'm glad I don't have to face this type of social problem.  I'd have to proclaim when the relative entered the house or sat at the front porch....you got 30 minutes of chatter time, and there's a list of forbidden subjects (like I don't really care about gender situations, NCAA football, script design of Star Wars, this puppet Ernie being gay, NFL football in a failing state of existence, scantily-clad women with $10k worth of plastic surgical stuff done, or so-and-so's cousin who sits in county-jail with nine charges).

If you just want to talk over famous Greek philosophers, science stuff, baseball before the home-run era, travels, what the professor should have built to get Gilligan off the island, or UFOs?  Just have a seat, and I'll fetch you a ice tea.  We can sit for a while.  

Joleen

 In a decade, I expect Meta (formerly Facebook) to have a virtual inter-play world created.

So you come home from work, and put on the helmet, and suddenly your virtual 'wife' Joleen appears.  

Joleen is wonderful.

Joleen has the physical look of Marylyn Monroe, Dolly Parton, and Greta Garbo....combined.

Joleen has a vast knowledge of NCAA football....citing scores, players, and coaches going back to the early 1960s.

Joleen knows every inch of the highway between Pulaski, Tenn to Ardmore, Tenn....down to the number of mailboxes, the approximate roadkill average, and who lives in what house.

Joleen openly weeps over Cry, Cry, Cry by George Jones.

Joleen sings Vince Gill songs around the clock.

Joleen worships every sentence you utter.

Joleen preorders your groceries for you....ensuring you buy only nutritional food, no beer, and only premium coffee.

Joleen keeps a tally over your heat and electricity usage, telling you at least once a week that you need to be aware of cost.

Joleen tracks all of your relatives and their geo-locations....making you aware of Uncle George's visits to a nudie bar, and Aunt Mary's occasional visits to a mental health clinic.

Joleen laughs over Minnie Pearl jokes from the 1960s, and continually repeats these monthly.

Joleen suggests occasionally that your political stance is too far right-wing.

Joleen often makes digital cat-picture pillows.....which Meta ships one to you every four weeks (for $49, from China).

Joleen puts on a cowboy outfit occasionally to shock you and suggest fantasy situations where the two of you might go rob a bank in Dodge City, and escape off into the hills where Marshall Dillon will hunt you down.

Joleen often takes you to five-star digital hotels in Beverley Hills when some digital guy named Jose serves you oysters and Champaign.  

Joleen always asks about your day, and seems to care....even if it's fake digital 'care'.

Joleen will on rare occasions puff on a cigarettes' and slip into a raspy voice..

Joleen will claim that she's been to Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden.  She acts like she's lived there her entire life. 

Joleen comforts you, when you feel despair or in a hopeless situation.  

Joleen will sit with you in the virtual world and watch episodes of Hee Haw, Barnaby Jones, Dallas, and Zena.  

Joleen is 100-percent fake.  But you get used to this virtual world Joleen and can't see ever leaving her.  

The Thousand-Odd Days of President Harris?

 Based on this rumor situation....I'd say the odds are pretty good in the next three months for President Biden to step down (declining mental situation) and President Harris to arrive on the scene.  What would I expect for the next thousand-odd days?

First, the news media will have to carry a ton of 'water' for her press conferences and speeches.  Whatever they were doing for Joe in this past two years....just go and expect more of the same.

Second, that awkward laugh 'act' probably needs to stop.  It'll become a comedian 'magnet', which draws unneeded criticism.  

Third, I hate to suggest it....but her knowledge base on economics probably amounts to a 3 x 5 inch index card (more or less the same as Joe Biden's knowledge).

Fourth, a number of people who were 'Joe-people' within the White House will be dismissed or let go.  Nothing shocking here.....just that they held their nose over Harris and her team for the past year, and she will remember all of that.

Fifth, there's zero gain for the mid-terms.  Maybe a hundred-odd journalists will suggest otherwise.....but where are these Lincoln-like or Kennedy-like speeches that she's given over the past decade?  As a motivational speaker.....grading one to ten.....she's a dismal 'four'.

Sixth, the way that she moved up in San Francisco politics?  It'll be brought up over and over.  This will be openly discussed.

Seventh, long-term view from beyond the US shores?  A lot of questions will come up....who knew about the dementia problem and for how long?  Harris won't be able to answer that question in public.

Eighth,  you will already see individuals gathering up by late 2022...for the 2023 debate season and competition against Harris.  Her position will weaken by mid-2023 as people point out various lack of skill for the job.  Will the DNC order people not to compete against Harris....when she's the weakest candidate out there? 

It'll be an interesting thousand days.   

This Rumor of Approving a New VP?

 There's a rumor over the past three or four days.....of some House of Representatives insider, who says that the folks have been asked to pull out the instructions on how you approve a new VP (coming in).

Naturally a lot of people have assumed that this means Harris is about to exit in some fashion.

I sat and pondered over the rumor, and the quality of Harris in recent weeks.  There's no doubt that Harris has stumbled around and generally goofed-off.  There's not much to say for accomplishments in the past six months.  

Do I believe the rumor?  Yeah, but for a different reason.

After much pondering, I think that Joe Biden's 'team' have reached a level where they know without doubt....he's suffering from dementia.  The poppy-pants story from the Vatican wasn't argued to be fake.  

So I'm going to this prediction....somewhere after Christmas...probably toward Feb or Mar....on a Friday morning, President Biden will announce his sudden exit as President.  Within minutes, VP Harris will do the oath and she will be President.  Biden will exit and be flown to his house in Delaware.....where I don't think he will be seen in public again.

The news media will spend one single weekend talking about 'signs' and then leave the dementia story laying there on Monday....never be discussed again.  About ninety percent of the nation will be shocked of the news handling of this and ask more questions.

President Harris?  Her approval rating will start somewhere around 44-percent and in a matter of three months....fall to the high-30's.  The awkward laughs....the lack of executive leadership....all add up.

Who ends up as VP?  The House and Senate have marginal sums of Democrats.  I don't think the new VP will be a Senator, or House member.  It's likely to be a Democratic governor.....Newsome (Cal), Cooper (NC), or Northam (Virginia).  

As for this getting positive traction in 2022 for the Democratic Party?  How?  What's the magic angle?  Covid remains.....recession remains....logistical woes remain....and the border crisis stays as strong as ever.  If the news media were smart...they'd just lessen 50-percent of coverage over Harris for the whole spring period....to look for fresh material without any political slant.  

The Path of a Pistol

 For some odd historical reason....both the JFK and RFK shootings fascinate me.....from various angles. 

A couple of years ago, I sat and asked myself....from the Sirhan Sirhan shooting of RFK....where did the pistol in question come from?  

So there's at least a hundred varieties of the story over the Iver Johnson .22 caliber revolver.

For the record, Iver Johnson is known for making weapons, motorcycles, and bikes. Yes, a rather odd grouping.

Oddly enough, you can show that three Presidents or potential Presidents....shot by one of their pistols (RFK, FDR and McKinley). 

This pistol that Sirhan Sirhan had? 

The original sale occurred in 1965....brand new....it was bought by a guy with the last name Hertz.....who owned a business in the region of Pasadena.  History records that there were riots in 1965, and this guy got all fearful of trouble....so he bought the pistol.  This period of ownership was short because his wife 'found' the gun (in some file cabinet or drawer of the business).  

Now, I should state this fact about Hertz....he was a WW II vet, retired Lt Col from the US Army, and had some kind of heart attack around this point of the 1965 riots.  (He was born in 1897)

The wife apparently wanted the pistol 'gone'.   You can interpret this in various ways.  

The wife gives the gun to her daughter.  History doesn't really record why she trusts the daughter over the husband.....it just happens that way.  My impression is that the daughter is at least mid-to-late 40s.

For whatever reason....the daughter really doesn't hold the weapon long.  She ends up giving (not selling) the gun to the next door neighbor.  

The neighbor, apparently within a short period of time....sells the gun, to a Mr. Munir Bishara Sirhan, the actual brother of Sirhan Sirhan.

Why the sale?  Well....basically, the neighbor had some kind of car problem and needed quick cash to finance the repair.  No one ever says the amount of money involved (this was 1966).  

For whatever reason....the brother loans the cheaply made gun over to Sirhan.  There's never much of a reason given

Had Sirhan ever fired the gun?  You can't find any documented evidence of this happening.  You would think that he knew something about pistols but no witnesses were ever brought up to say that.  

One odd thing, when you bring up 'trusting' the Iver Johnson 22 pistol....most owners and people who have fired it....will say that it's cheaply made.....prone for breakage, and not a great dependable weapon.  

History and Wilson

 History records that in the summer of 1919....the war is over and recovery is underway, and President Wilson fully intends to run in November 1920 for a third term as President.

It's not something that is openly discussed much by historians...because the 3rd campaign never happened.

Why the stroke?  This goes to an interesting problem he had....in getting the Treaty of Versailles passed by the Senate.  There was almost no clear discussion between Wilson and the Republicans in the Senate.  There was a two-member edge for the Republicans (49-47).  Remember....there's not fifty states in existence at this point.

The Republicans simply weren't buying into the Versailles Treaty business.  

Wilson decided in mid-summer of 1919....he had to get the Republicans bent over this treaty approval.  So a schedule was developed, and he was to tour the western part of the United States over an entire month.  

There were nine states with a split situation (1 x Republican and 1 x Democratic Senator).  His intention was to put public pressure on these Republicans in these states (California, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Missouri, NM, Wyoming, and Nebraska).  

It was a rather warm year, and the trip via the train....with the constant travel and stress....triggered Wilson to arrive back in DC in mid-September....in a weakened state.  On 2 October....Wilson had a stroke.  From that point on, he would never be at the physical stamina level to accomplish anything.  For all practical purposes....Wilson allows his wife to run the meetings and everyone is led to believe 'any day now'....he'd recover (never the truth).

It takes about a hundred days for the Senators to realize the situation.  

No one willing to testify or swear of his poor health?  Well....this is the odd part of the story.  There's not a single person in the inner circle or cabinet who had the guts to make a public statement or swear to anything.

The election came in November 1920, and President Wilson quietly exited....dying in Feb 1924.  Physically, he never recovered.

Fixing or resolving the health concerns for the President?  People will say that the Constitution changed, but frankly....until you get the inner circle to react....no one will ever be removed because of ill health (mentally or physically).

Had Wilson never gone to this western tour in 1919?  Well....you can make the case that without the stress.....he would have been in decent health, run in 1920, and easily won the election.  Yes, he would have been President all the way to 1924.  

So history has a funny way of taking twists and turns.  

Just An Odd Thing About the Rittenhouse Case

 These three 'victims' that the prosecutor hypes over?

Well....individual number one, convicted felon (domestic abuse, assault and battery, illegal weapon possession, and false imprisonment).  Dead.

Individual number two, convicted felon (felony burglary, violated probation, illegal weapon possession).  He's still alive (at least presently).

Individual number three, convicted felon (sexual offenses, failure to maintain accurate record on sex offender record).  Dead.   To be honest, this goes to a Arizona episode, with 11 counts of child molestation.  An odd thing here about the end of this case, from the Arizona court.....they said the guy should be totally restricted from contact with anyone under the age of 18.  Rittenhouse?  He was seventeen at the time of the shooting.....so if this joker had just listened to the court and avoided contact....he'd be alive today.

Mention of the background here of the three by the prosecutor?  No.

If the jury knew of the past records?  Yes, it'd probably influence them to some degree.

So my question is.....if you went out that night and canvased the demonstration crowd (say around one-hundred people).....how many had felony records?  Just those three?  Ten-percent of the hundred?  Fifty-percent of the hundred? 

What's the magnet here?  Apparently, there aren't that many Lutherans, Boy Scouts, Mennonites, or former Army people with Silver Stars or Purple Hearts.  It just begs the question....what kind of characters are showing up? 

Demon-Chatter

 I don't usually talk much politics over my home state (Alabama) but the governor's race is next November.

In the running currently, under the GOP, we have a lesser-known guy running....Dean Oldie.  Oldie has the profession of Pentecostal minister....meaning he believes in the speaking in 'tongues' and that demons (if found in people) need to be cast out.

I sat and pondered over the guy, if he were to win the election and be governor. 

First, we do have a lot of tormented folks in Alabama, with probable 'demons' (really just mental disease or damage from years of alcohol/drugs).  As governor, he'd be an asset to cast out these demons.

Second, the demon-hunter crowd generally always drifts over to the Republicans....NOT the Democrats.  It ought to be 50-50 here, but it isn't.

Third and final, one negative of getting this guy out in front....it'll attract the pro-demon crowd to get more political.  Hard to say if they will stand with the Republicans or the Democrats.  But I doubt that we really need more pro-demon positions on things (like Covid).  

Five Odd Things You'd Notice From the Past Week

 1.  This Houston rap-death incident.

Oddly enough....almost no one in the city management scene is responsible for anything.  You'd think that a permit was issued by someone in the city, and it listed eighty-odd things you needed to do....to ensure safety.  Yet in this case....nothing seems to be laid out.  

2.  The Biden team admits they are at a total loss on what to do about the mounting inflation business.

Yes, they do hype the trillion-dollar deal as something, but if you asked how the incoming and outgoing cash angle resolves inflation....they can't answer that.

Experts on their team within economics?  You get the impression that from the thirty-odd characters on the insider team....virtually no one is a graduate of economics.  

My impression is that nightly....they gather around a table...sipping Jim Beam and asking each other why potato chips are more expensive or how it costs $14 more now for a tank of gas compared to Trump's last year.  

3.  Someone did the math and suggests now that in the past decade....with Obama-Care in full bloom....the general yearly cost is now 50-percent more. 

And?  Is anyone really that shocked?  Most of the regulation added....did nothing to lessen the speed of cost-problems.

4.  VP Harris stood up and said her bad numbers on polling....reflect people being negative about her being a female, black, and Asian. 

At no point did she admit that incompetency might be in the mix.

5.  The term 'witch-hunt' probably gets uttered at least ten times a day, if you flip through CNN, MSNBC, or Fox-News.

Some people are probably starting to ask....where'd all these witches come from?

My Sense Over the Rittenhouse Court Case

 Several years ago, I watched a podcast and a older law professor talked over the decline of prosecutors.  It'd reached a level (he said) where numerous charges were being tossed at folks, and the deal was to bargain the situation down to the 'guilty-party' accepting one or two lesser charges, and marginal jail-time (at least a year or two in semi-serious cases).  

Real prosecution cases....in his mind....no longer existed.  

I think this prosecution team in the Rittenhouse case....were on this remarkable 'ride' and figured that they'd eventually offer Rittenhouse two lesser charges....get him to admit guilt, and they'd avoid a real courtroom case. 

Weeks progressed, and Rittenhouse never wanted a deal. 

In my mind, the prosecution team walked into a case that they were never capable of winning, and had done marginal preparation for the situation.

The skills that might have been there for a 1920s or 1930s courtroom case?  Long gone.  

Just my humble view.    

UFO Chatter

 The top official of various US intelligence groups....came out and talked over UFOs briefly.  So what she said in essence....there's mounting evidence, but intelligence people ask 'whats the real landscape' (where all this leads to), and they can't answer that.

Having viewed all the chatter....over years, I will offer three observations:

1.  There's serious physical limits (at least upon humans) to travel for years in space.  This has been discussed at length.  I'm one of those people who believe none of these are actual beings, but AI-robots, with given instructions.  

2.  You can pretty much assume the 'end-game' contains only two options: gain resources/minerals, or assemble knowledge or data or society.  If they wanted to conquer society....they'd just turn some stupid bat-virus loose and immunize people with a counter-productive vaccine.  

3.  Maybe they are the ones who planted all that exists on Earth.

Beyond that....there's nothing much to be discussed.  If they wanted to hide themselves....they've done a poor job.  

Observations

 1.  Did anyone know that VP Harris was capable of a French accent?

No.  Where did she learn the accent?  I pondered upon this, and the only logical place is that LeBeau guy on Hogan's Heroes.  My guess is that she spent several hours on the flight from DC to Paris....watching LeBeau clips.

2.  Florida chatting about sending refugees to Delaware?

Well....yeah.  Personally, I'd just get a load of refugee actors....one single bus, and then dump them somewhere in Delaware to act-out or pretend to be newly arrived from Florida and just see how public reaction goes.  'Stir the pot' as people say.  Maybe no one even notices them.  

Five Questions Which Might Be Interesting To Ask Joe Biden

 1.  When was the last time that he drove a car and refilled the tank with fuel?

-- I'm just guessing but it's probably been over twenty-five years.  So, he has very little knowledge over fuel costs.

2.  When was the last time that he entered and shopped at a Piggly Wiggly or any type of grocery?

-- In the past decade?  It wouldn't shock me if it's three times or less.

3.  Does he know his monthly average on electricity costs for the house he owns in Delaware?  

-- Just a humble guess here, but he probably hasn't reviewed the bill in thirty-odd years.  His wife might have a basic idea but I'll bet she hasn't seen the bill either, for at least a decade.

4.  Can he name all of his cabinet officials?  

-- It's a silly question, but it would just be curious to ask this and see if he fails.  If he utters 'that blonde gal', or that 'funny guy'.....there's something wrong.  

5.  What officials or meetings did you entertain in the past week?  In terms of man-hours....what exactly have you been doing?

-- As crazy as it sounds....I don't think he can answer the question.  

Two Entertainment Notes

 First, I noticed today that a TV production group is now putting together a TV-Rambo series.

I sat there for a while....trying to contemplate how this would work, how the original script would have to change, and how Rambo would be on the run....24 hours a day...seven days a week....for a whole production year.

Course, you'd have to accomplish all of this with minimum violence, weapons fired, without actually killing too many people (probably a limit of two folks for each one-hour episode).

The more I thought about it....the more I laughed.  

They'd probably try to do this with a female 'bad-guy-sheriff' and probably located in some mountainous area of the Carolinas.  If you asked....how stupid this rates....I'd give it a '9' out of '10'.

Second, there's the basic idea of the next James Bond / 007 movie put out there.

So female 007 (you were introduced to her in this last movie) will have been kidnapped, and 'Q' has decided to call the other 'OO's' (001, 002, etc).  

You (the viewer) will be introduced to at least three OO's (my estimate).  Who will play 001, 002, and 003?  Unknown.  

If this were me writing the script....I'd drag 006 into this and reveal him to be Prince Charles.....just for laughs.

What'll happen?  I'm betting that 001, 002, and 003 all meet an ending (dead) by the conclusion of this movie.....along with the female Bond/007 character.  Q reaches some desperation point in the final minute and reveals that he's called '000' (junior trainee), and you get quietly introduced to some wild character that is unlike any Bond ever.

Just my two cents on the idea.

My Logistics Story

 At various times in my Air Force career....I was often stuck with ordering or receiving items that the office/vault required.  

One day in the late 1990s....I got called to the front door of the vault.  The supply delivery guy was there.  He had a box for our organization.  So I signed for it and opened it at the desk.

Here was a fair sized box, with around forty-odd reels (all newly packed).  It didn't really make any sense....we had nothing in the vault that ran on reels, and hadn't had such a device in eight to ten years.  

So I went to the supply office and asked stupid questions.

They dug through the records, and that around 1990 (approximately eight years prior)....someone in the office ordered around forty of these reels.  Money was allocated, and the purchase was made, but put on back-order.  

So I looked at the paperwork and asked....how much did they pay?  It was near $100 each (premium reels).....$4k was involved.  

I told the 'kid'....we didn't really need these...was there anyone to give it to?  Nope was the response.

I went back to the office and spent ten minutes talking to my Captain.  His advice....dump them.  So I prepared paperwork....to turn them into supply.  Well....they turned down the reels.....telling me to turn them into DRMO (Defense reutilization).  But I had to get a stock number, and there was none.

So I went back to supply 'help' office and spent thirty minutes with the 'kid' again.....inventing a stock number, and getting a slip to turn these in.

Man-hour wise?  From beginning to end?  There's probably five hours of time wasted on this.  

Observations: 8 Nov 2021

 1.  This Ashley Biden 'stolen-diary' story.

Well....first, people are shocked that Biden has a daughter (via his second wife, Jill).  Normally, Hunter and the dead son are the only kids ever mentioned.  Second, people keeping diaries?  Well....it was a popular thing for maybe a hundred years.....but in the last thirty-odd years?  It's simply not that popular.

As for the 'steal'?  This is suggested to have occurred about ten days prior to the November election.....but there's simply not many facts on this property being stolen.  Some people relate that the diary was left behind by the daughter (the abandoned is often used).  

This entire story has the 'look' and 'feel' of being fake.  There might have been a diary-like book there and filled with 'juicy' gossip....but there is little to suggest that it was real or actually written by Ashley.  The FBI drawn in?  Why?  If it was personal property....it's a local cop situation.  

2.  Latest shortage?  Those coffee cups you get at stop-and-go coffee houses?

No one is saying a nation-wide shortage....just that problems are being noticed now in the past week.  The odds that you might be asked to bring your own cup with you in the future?  It wouldn't shock me if by Christmas.....you buy your coffee and put it into your own container.

3.  Is Bosnia about to erupt into another civil war?

Well....in the past six months....politics in the region has changed, and there's some 'dynamics' at work.  The tax-revenue people and the judges.....appear compromised.  So 2022 might be an interesting year, with a collapse of civilization in the region.

Observations: 5 November 2021

 1.  I sat and read a piece this morning where Congresswoman 'AOC' has suggested that the Tuesday loss in Virginia....was mostly due to Democrats going moderate and not hyping far-left extreme values.

Yeah, I think that's right.....they should all attempt to go further to left...to prove AOC's point.

2.  Apparently, the folks on the TV show 'View' say that the Tuesday loss was because of too many white-racist women.

Yeah, I think that's right too, and marginalized TV commentators should jump all over white women.  'Cancel' these white gals.....make them edge over toward the Republicans.

3.  This new rule in the city of SF....that kids under the age of 11 need to carry proof of Covid vaccinations....to buy candy in a candy shop?

Yeah, I think that's right too.  It's just a bit funny though if you think about it.....everyone of these far left cities are progressing this way.  So you don't need a ID to vote, but you do need a Covid vaccination 'ID' to buy candy?  

Getting Things Done 'List'

 This week, I came across a page that had been created in the past couple of months,  which I'd describe as a page dedicated to the first hundred days of the Biden administration, and how wonderful it was.

Hundred days....hundred wonderful accomplishments.

So I spent an hour reviewing the page.

To be honest, I consider the first ten months of the administration to be dismal, and mostly things that you'd rather forget (like the Afghanistan exit plan).

But I've selected ten of these wonderful accomplishments to discuss:

1.  The Covid shots business.  I know that Biden has taken the credit, but the vast majority of the legwork to get this program up and going....was already set in 'concrete' and didn't really have much to do with the President.

2.  The 50-cut in 'carbon pollution' by 2030.  Well....carbon is not pollution (PhD folks will laugh when you use the phrase).  Promising to cut carbon?  It's like saying you promise to cut 50-percent of warts among Americans, or promise to diminish 50-percent of bear attacks in America, or promise to halt 50-percent of illegal border crossing activity.  It's a 'fake' promise that gives people a thrill....nothing more than that.

3.  The administration handed out 81-billion dollars....to reopen schools.  When you sit and think about it....school budgets are written in stone and the money never dries up because the state and county system has tax-revenue sitting there.  So the 81-billion?  It was just free money....whatever the school systems did....it certainly had nothing to do with Covid or reopening.

4.  The administration brought in the most diverse cabinet in American history.  At some point in the next decade, we will have a serious paranoid schizophrenic Secretary of State, a Secretary of Transportation gal who actively believes in bigfoot and the Loch Ness Sea Monster, and a Attorney General who has 40-percent of their body covered in tattoos.  The selling point to this is to make Americans happy over diverse stuff....even if it goes beyond your imagination.

5.  'Supported restaurant workers'.  The hint is that it helped the 'mom-and-pop' restaurants survive.  Most folks (by mid-summer 2021)  who fell into the 'mom-and-pop' theme....will tell you the money and effort was marginal, and too late. 

6.  'Fixed the White House web site to ask you for your pronoun.'   I sat and pondered over this.  For regular working-class people.....it has zero value.

7.  Brought back the Spanish language White House web site.  It's an amazing thing....if you use the right browser now.....you can convert the White House 'theme' to any language (even Russian or Finnish).  So you contracted this out....paying some guy to translate it....when Google does it for you free of charge.  

8.  'Booted deregulation'.  Basically....as Trump got rid of regulations....the Biden administration brought the regulations back into full form.  So the term ought to be de-regulated deregulation.  Yeah, its as silly as it sounds.

9.  'Restored weekly White House press conferences'.  Not to really go negative on this....but these conferences are marginally working at this point, and most journalists are critical of the messages being handed out.

10.  Announced a program to hype up a wind-energy off-shore program that would bring 135,000 jobs with it.  It's like the green energy hype of the Obama administration.....where you say something that just never comes true.  First, you'd have to get permission of states and communities to even build the off-shore generators....which may never occur. 

I look at the Biden accomplishments and basically.....there's no four or five star accomplishments that can be easily recognized by the public in the first 300-odd days.  What you have are things announced with questionable value....probably adding up to each being either a one-star or two star accomplishment.  In simple terms....people are still waiting.  

The Greeks

 My introduction to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle....occurred around the 6th grade, and there was a two paragraph mention of the three old Greek guys, and something about philosophy (remember, this was Alabama in the late 1960s).  There was a test in that six-week period, and I would imagine some question did come up to name the three, but if you asked what they really changed or meant.....nothing in that class established that.

I think there was one additional mention around the 9th grade, and then that was it.  Philosophy, logic and questioning never really came up.  

A couple of years into my Air Force years....I took a course in logic (it was the only course ever....out of fifty-odd courses....that didn't mandate a real test at the conclusion of the class).  On one particular evening, we got into the Socrates and Aristotle chatter, and it was curious to me how you needed logic in your life.

Somewhere around age thirty, I picked up a couple of books one year....on ancient Greek philosophy, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.  I'd refer to that year as a 'year of learning'.  This was all material that I probably should have consumed by age fifteen.  

In today's atmosphere?  If you came to most 18-year old 'kids' in college and mandated a full class of Greek philosophy....they'd launch into a tirade and suggest they don't need wisdom from old Greek dead guys.  

Are we in some darkened area of civilization where even PhD professors are lacking Greek philosophy, and becoming marginalized intellectuals?  I might suggest that.

If you were lacking and wanting a suggest or two on books to start a path toward the Greeks?  I might go and suggest Aristotle's Children (by Richard Rubenstein), and Greek Philosophy: Thales to Socrates.  Both are good starting points.  

Maybe Carville is Right

 I noticed in the news this morning....after the Virginia election hype....James Carville stood up and announced that you (if you did feel bad about the results) can blame 'stupid wokeness'.  Then he said in some weird way....the woke people ought to go to a 'woke detox center'.

I sat and pondered over this.

First, where would such a detox center be?  Arizona desert?  Deep in the forests of Oregon (with Bigfoot watching from the distance)?  Downtown Seattle, near the opioid-zone? On some rural farm in Arkansas?  On a sheep ranch in New Zealand?  Onboard a rusted freighter off the coast of Nigeria? 

Then the question comes up....how would you detox a woke idiot?  Would you ask them to haul hay in 98-degree temperatures in Alabama?  Would you hand them sandbags, a shovel and task them to fill 250 sandbags a day?  Would you make them watch 1930s cowboy westerns for six weeks?  

No one has ever suggested the ways that you can bring a woke guy back from the mental 'hell' he sits upon.

Another question arises here....what if the woke-guy doesn't want to be detoxed?  Some folks might be happy in this woke fantasy world.

What if the woke-guy attends six weeks of detox, leaves the facility, and is twice as woke as he was when he entered?

What if we just do nothing and let this ride?  

Observations

 1.  Was this a 'blood-bath' in Virginia with the governor's race?

What kind of nutcase (for the news media) would say that?  If you gaze at numbers (99-percent counted)....Youngkin won with 50.7-percent of the vote.  McAuliffe lost by only 72,000 votes.  If this stupid board of education 'crap' hadn't erupted, and McAuliffe hadn't jumped into the Tiki-torches business.....he would have won this by 200,000 votes easily.  

2.  Does this Virginia election say much over President Biden?

Marginally in some way.  

3.  West-Hollywood, CA....going to a minimum wage of $17.64?

Yeah....highest minimum wage in the US.  So as the French-Fry guy at Burger King....you make $705 a week before taxes.  

4.  Minneapolis voting effort to 'replace' the police department (more or less creating a 'peace-department'?

Failed in voting, 56-percent to 44-percent.  

5.  Are journalists overusing the 'emotions' gimmick?

The childish behavior has reached a level, where you think you are watching seven-year-old kids.  

Observations: 4 November 2021

 1.  If we reach November 2024, and Trump runs to defeat Joe Biden....does it mean much of anything?  I would suggest that the accomplishment record of Joe Biden....if 2022 and 2023 are the same as 2021....it's more about 'getting the job done'.  Course, having a recession that is still in full existence in 2023....would not help Joe Biden.

2.  The economy crashing in Afghanistan?  If you gaze over business news of the past four weeks....mostly viewing Kabul, it's absolute crap, and there's some type of emergency situation building up for Jan/Feb timeframe.  I'd go and predict that several hundred thousand folks will make toward the borders and try to find refugee camps to hang out.  The Taliban's grasp of things?  If they themselves can't find food to eat.....things will get out of hand.

3.  This rumor that the NFL will have a team to sign Colin Kaepernick shortly?  Mostly (99-percent) BS (my humble opinion).  

4.  Finally, Maine in the election yesterday....passed a state amendment that says food is a guaranteed right.  They didn't say it had to be steak and I'm guessing that they could be suggesting 'Sloppy Joes' and apples would be enough to pass as a 'food right'.  

The Weirdest Episode of Seinfeld

 I'm in the process of watching the episodes of Seinfeld again.  So two days ago, I watched the episode where George has decided (just out of the wild) to date his cousin Rhisa.

It's clear out of the blue.....you never had seen her before, and wouldn't ever see her again.  

The portrayal?  Laurie Taylor-Williams did the acting job, and what you get is some dazed cousin of George....who seems to have burnt a few brain cells....drank a fair bit of wine in life, and probably smoked a bit of cannabis.  

It's about eight minutes into the piece that you get introduced to Rhisa.  

George needs some gimmick to get his dad to react in a certain way of 'disapproval', and he's figured....if this cousin relationship was exposed, he'd achieve results.  

George and Rhisa then meet at some restaurant, and George is hinting at some suggestive but fake relationship.  Rhisa?  She's sipping wine pretty aggressively and you get the impression this is the 3rd glass in the last hour or two.  It takes less than 30 seconds for Rhisa to agree to the relationship but in her mind....there wasn't going to be fake stuff (George is caught off-guard on this moment).

So you only get two scenes with Rhisa (one at the cafe, and one at the van in the woods at the end of the episode).  

This whole storyline with Rhisa?  You could have built this up and had her in forty-odd episodes, but they never bring her back.

This episode?  It came early in the 9th year, and you just have to wonder if they'd done it in the second or third season....maybe the story would have expanded out.  

The Sleep Story

 If you follow the President's trip to Scotland ('save-the-Earth' conference)....at some point yesterday, he was falling asleep (noted via news teams).

Accurate statement?  Listen, you take a 78-year-old guy....fly him to Europe and give him zero time to recover from jet-lag, and then hustle him into a fairly boring conference situation....he's got to nod off.

Most guys who are 78....will tell you that five days out of the week....they take a ninety-minute nap in the middle of the day, and their hectic schedule involves mostly reading the newspaper....hanging out at flea-markets, telling Vietnam war stories, and repairing the 36-year-old toaster that breaks down weekly.

So I'm not really that shocked or annoyed over Joe falling asleep.  

AI

 I sat last night and watched a segment on German PhD computer engineers working on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and basically teaching a system to 'think'.  Their angle?  They wanted to teach a system to recognize 'fake news'.  

So they were at a point where the computer was responding back and now asking questions to the engineer.  

The engineer would suggest 'x' was real news, and 'y' was fake news.  Basically, the questions came back....'WHY'.

The computer, if you go and think about it....was trying to build a logical 'math-like' statement.  If you filter in ten bits of information....there should be a sensible math assignment here where x-number of facts are fake....thus rendering the news item 'fake'.

The more I saw....the more I was amused.

At some point, AI will read each single line of a news item, and then value it.  The line might contain one fact, which the AI draws three math sequences.....one being positive....one neutral....and one negative.  It'll eventually trust one above the other two, then move to the second line of news.  

Because of computer speed....you might be able to read through a sixty-line news piece and eventually reach a point where the forty sentences are each assigned a score (within 3 seconds).  So it might come to value a story as being mostly 'fake', when the human might score it as perfectly legit.  

What if you reversed the situation, and asked AI to write the news story?  I would imagine that it'd review the whole situation...where a human would write a 40-line story (either fake or true), but the AI would write a 5-line story.....just the facts, with no slant or agenda.  In this 'world', you might end up with a four-page newspaper (instead of twenty pages), or a newscast of six minutes instead of 30 minutes.

Somewhere down the line....maybe even in five years....I suspect some newscast or newspaper will exist....with only AI writing or producing it.  Competition against CNN, Fox or the WaPo?  Obviously.

The question is....would we go and procure this news ahead of everyone else, and just dump slanted news entirely?  

There's a bold new era coming....probably within a decade, and a number of news people are going to reformate their resume, because AI assumed the majority of jobs.  

Joe, The Lesser

 In case you missed it....from that weekend G-20 meeting.  The guy on the far left (red circle) is Joe Biden.

If you were Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, or Donald Trump....you were typically in the middle, and normally on the second row.  

It's almost like he showed up....got into the photo by accident, and then left.  

In history, we have those occasions when historians note people, as 'the greater', or 'the lesser'.  I think in this case....it's appropriate to note President Biden on the 'lesser' side.

Ten Things That I've Kinda Changed On In The Past Year

 1.  The less I watch/hear of national news (like CNN, NPR, BBC)....the less I read on social media (I'm not in F-Book or Twitter anymore)....the more normal things seem to be.  

2.  My skeptical ratio (if there was such a thing) has probably tripled in intensity. Even if you had some Bible-lecture chatting over Moses....there's probably a dozen things you could bring up and I'd shake my head over the story told.

3.  I've kinda reached the point where I notice people talking a lot (maybe five minutes straight)....but they aren't really saying anything.

4.  When someone says 'trust the science'.....I generally just start laughing and looking for the mute-button.

5.  There are some politicians now....that I regard with such juvenile behavior....that I would support sending back to the 6th grade.

6.  My definition of the word 'RARE' is probably not going to match 90-percent of CNN journalists.

7.  The various Doctor Doom's that appear on TV (not just in the US).....are starting to remind me of used-car dealers.

8.  I'm getting pretty close to identifying 'woke-people' as paranoid schizophrenics. 

9.  We are reaching the stage where a fact-checker probably has the same level of competence as your local meth/dope dealer, or some mule-trader.   

10.  The minute you equate politicians into the Jesus/Satan categories....democracy is finished/over.  You might as well bring David Hasselhoff in and let him run the Presidency for four years.  Maybe Kitt could advise him, and just do the logical stuff (they'd have to get a better voice though for Kitt).   

Saving Us: The Tiki-Torch Boys

 Over the weekend, this image and the Virginia political story has been on my mind.  So the basic situation?  Five guys showed up next to Youngkin's bus (the Republican running for Governor).  White shirts, ball caps, and Tiki torches.  This was supposed to 'signal' white supremists in support of him.

Well....things were checked out, and the five were identified....as 'hired-hands'.  

What's now said is that 'Bob', 'Marty', 'Rufus', 'Charlie', and 'Karl' were all hired by a political group, and they took 'orders' from the Democratic candidate (or his handlers).....McAuliffe.  

First, the five were paid something (no one says how much).  Just a humble guess, I'm thinking somewhere around $300 to $500.  Most of us (myself included) if approached to put a white shirt, ballcap, and hold a Tiki-torch by a bus for eight minutes....would have easily been bought for around $200 (Alabama rate).  Maybe in California...the rate would have been a bag of cannabis and $100.  Virginia rate?  Maybe a bottle of Jim Beam and $300.  

Second, no one has said who paid who.  This middle-guy (company) didn't do this for free.  They got paid something (anyone's guess....it might have even been $20,000) to arrange all of this.  But the question is....did McAuliffe's campaign pay for it, or did some special PAC pay for it? 

Third, once you admit this happened....what else has been faked up?

Fourth, the tiki-torch industry needs some advertising.....could we get the five guys to come on TV and stand by various politicians (Democrat and Republican)?

It's just a funny way of trying to assemble propaganda, and convince people of some fake agenda.  White shirt, ballcap, and Tiki-torches?  Yeah.  

The funny thing.....various news organizations around Virginia picked up the original story and tried to run with it.  Regular people looked over the comedy involved, and the news people suggesting a big deal....look like juvenile reporters now.