Conspiracy Theories: New Coke

 This is a series of ten discussions I'm going to do over the next two weeks....discussing favorite conspiracies.  New Coke.

Basic facts which you can't dispute:

1.  New Coke was this idea that you'd dump sugar-sweetened Coke to a lower-cost formula of high-fructose corn syrup.  Thus saving money and charging you the same cost.

2.  Taste?  I would personally would suggest it was 90-percent of the original Coke. Some folks would disagree.

3.  This was all done around the time that DEA was discussing the coco plant business.  General gut feeling was that coca derivatives were going to be a long-term product.  The company, based on commentary had legit worries about this pipeline disappearing.

 This idea lasted in name until 1992, and shifted to Coke II (don't ask the logic).  

2002, New Coke and Coke II production ended....sort of.

Last year, Coke talked up the idea of bringing back Coke II/New Coke.  It wasn't going to be full production...just a short run to see if consumers went back to it.

Was there a conspiracy here?  No.  It was a gamble by the leadership of Coke and to get away from the coca derivatives.  The taste....frankly, was never the same.  

Coke's lead in sales?  Since the 1970s...it's all based on fast-food sales and ball-parks.  Pepsi took over the rest of the market.  

It was all a gamble to get ahead and just failed....conspiracy-wise, it's a marginal '1' on the one to ten scale.  

CNN Airport Network Ends?

 Around thirty years ago....CNN opened up a new network called CNN-Airport Network.  Basically, they were running a news operation that only functioned or was shown....at national airports.

Over the years, having been in thirty-odd US airports....I can generally say that it was mostly worthless.  The sound reception in some of these airports is crap.  You toss in important/critical messages being announced by your airline....so this whole gimmick was marginal, if you asked me.

Back around 2013, I had a conversation with one retired guy in an airport, and he ran through dozens of complaints about CNN, the propaganda value, and the useless nature of the news network.  I suspect that ten-percent of American travelers probably felt like this guy.  

This week....the director of CNN (Zucker) said 'enough'.  He's shutting down the Airport network. 

Chief reason?  Well....there's just not that many people flowing through the airports because of Covid-19.  So advertising just wasn't there to pay for the cost issues.

Is anyone going to miss it?  No.

What will fill the TV monitors?  Probably travel documentaries if you ask me. 

UFO Story

 The CIA releasing various UFO documents?  Well....yes.

For several decades, information requests have come and gone....usually declined by the CIA.  This week....they opened up the library and said 'here....read up'.

Anything worth reading?  I spent an hour browsing.  You have roughly 2,500 to 3,000 pages in the mix.  

There's nothing much there....other than people (some of the airline pilots) just reporting unusual things.  Some are probably true....some are probably illusions or schizophrenia episodes.

Was it necessary to classify all of this?  Well....no.  That's the amusing part of the story.  From the thirty-odd documents I looked at....nothing was of a classified nature.  The idiots who classified it?  I don't think they knew what they were doing or just doing it because someone ordered them to do it.

Did this really settle much?  No.  It did clear off the CIA as being some treasure-bucket of UFO information.  

So if you went through the Air Force, Navy, and various other information 'buckets'?  I would imagine the same thing.  They have tens of thousands of reports.....which mostly lead nowhere. 

It's like your local police having 300 reports in the past year of wild-dog packs running around the county, but then saying they've never (themselves) ever seen a wild-dog pack.  Do the wild-dog packs exist?  In likelihood, there's probably one single wild-dog pack of four dogs.  

In this UFO collection....it could just be one single alien group that keeps getting directions to visit Earth, and they don't really see much to get hyped-up about....so they visit for a day and leave (just to make their supervisor happy).  Later, their bosses order them back, and they repeat this one-day visit once again.

Trump, Impeachment, Republicans, and 2024

 So this is a series of questions and likely answers:

1.  Can Trump be impeached at this point?

No, the clock has run out and this is more of a staged production than anything else.

2.  Will Trump run in 2024?  

It's a loaded question.  First Trump is today 74...he'd be 78 in 2024.  Health-wise?  This is a guy who eats burgers each day for lunch, and dinner is some type of beef.  On the positive side....he's never smoked or drank in his life.  But he's carrying 40 pounds more than he should.

If you asked me....he might have two more years of great health, and then it's all iffy.  I would discount him as a major player after the mid-term....only because of health potential issues.  

3.  Trump's actions against the GOP establishment for the remainder of 2021 and mid-term election period of 2022?

I'd readily suggest that he'll have a list of dozen Republican House members and maybe 20 Democratically-held seats....to advocate a separate party (outside of the Republicans) in March 2022 (primary period).

I'll also suggest that from the twenty Republican seats up for re-election....he'll have a minimum of 15 alternate candidates identified and running to remove certain Republican Senators (Rubio and Murkowski are probably on this list).  From the 14 Democratic seats up....I might suggest a minimum of five will have Trump-candidates running in the mix.

It wouldn't shock me if ten Trump-candidates enter the Senate in 2022.  

4.  The landscape after the November 2022 mid-term election?

I would suggest that a minimum of fifteen House seats will be from this alternate party.  From the Senate?  It'll turn into a fairly dramatic drama.

If you run a November 2022 mid-term with a Trump-candidate, Republican candidate, and Democratic candidate....in most cases....a majority winner will NOT occur, which means a second election (in December) will occur in a number of cases.  

I would suggest in this scenario....it'll be the Democrat and the Trump-candidate, with the Republican guy falling out and then begging his people to vote for the Democratic candidate.

In this scenario....more than half of the voters that went along with the Republican Senator will be freaked out over what they are being asked to do, and cause them to leave the party in total disgust.  More destruction to the party?  No doubt.

5.  The 2023 period?

Throughout the period....journalists will try to hype the situation as the Republicans are 'rebuilding' and Trump-candidates can't possibly progress.  'Fake-press' will be uttered over and over.

Potential Republican Presidential candidates in 2023 to emerge?  The PAC money will be there but more than 70-percent of traditional Republican voters are finished with the party by that point.  

6.  The primary period of 2024?  

If Trump is still healthy....he'll show up in Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada....just to be a thorn in the side of the Republicans.  Trump will expand with 100-odd  seats in his view....most are Republican....some are Democrat.

7.  The real objective in 2024?

I think the real objective is to prevent anyone from getting 270 Electoral votes.  To this end, he'll win out-right twenty stats.

8.  The January 2025 Congressional Presidential Election?

This will be a messy adventure with the House left to vote for Trump or the Democratic candidate.  The Republican....even with 15-odd million votes won't be able to enter the 'race' because Trump and President Harris are the top two.

The state-by-state ballots?  Well.....difficult.  Various Republic House members will be told to vote for the Democrat and it's mostly paving the way for total destruction of the party.  Nothing after the summer of 2025 will exist for the Republicans....they are finished at this point.