If There Is A Diesel Shortage?

 In the past month, if you read through the BS....there is a potential national shortage of diesel fuel coming up.  

Key area to be hit first?  If you analyze the commentary....SE US.

So how would this work?  You'd have three key groups affected:

1.  Truckers who support grocery/store operations on a daily basis.

2.  Farmers who need diesel to operate farm vehicles.

3.  School buses that carry kids to school.  

The first real sign of trouble?  You stand at a diesel fuel station and the sign has gone up....no fuel delivery for 12 hours.  So you park your rig, or your bus.....waiting.  You can imagine three states in the very beginning and having this issue.

Within forty-eight hours....instead of just forty stations in a 'wait' situation....you now have three-hundred.

Delivery of grocery goods?  You start to notice delivery schedules are now 72 hours behind normal, and empty shelves beginning to show.

After three weeks of this....your national problem has extended into the center part of the US, and affecting around forty states.

Blame?  There's at least a dozen choices, but it appears that this has been building up for almost eighteen months.  You can't even make the case that Biden deserves some of the blame.

Some national crisis diesel 'committee' is appointed by Biden to fix this, and what you end up with....is a group of insiders who are creating a more screwed-up fuel system, with food shortages part of the mess....but including school kids who can't be carried to school because of the crisis.   

Hint?  I don't think this goes away in 2022 or 2023....it'll linger for possibly three years.  

My Perception Of The Paul Pelosi Attack Story

 First, as long as the basic story stays that this David-the-hammer-guy just shows up....barges into the home and attacks Paul Pelosi....things are fine and the news media doesn't have to 'carry' much 'water'.

If Dave-the-hammer-guy says he and Paul are 'friends', or that he was invited over, or that someone brought him to Paul's house for some reason, or that he and Paul had some kinky fantasy going on (involving hammers and tie-up bands)....then it's a mess for the news media to clean up.

So, if I were Paul Pelosi, and there's more to the attack story....I'd have the lawyer visit Dave-the-hammer-guy and offer up some cash to agree to one single discreet story (him barging in) and get the prosecutor to only press on a minor 1-month in jail situation. 

The key factor here....on risk-assessment and weird kinky stuff...this is either a zero (barge-in story) or it's a ten (meaning a relationship with a drugged-up nutcase was possible).  You would have been safer going off to Thailand and having some half-man/half-woman situation there....instead of a drugged-up absolute nutcase from the streets of SF.

But there's this other odd situation with David-the-hammer-guy's ex-wife....who is on jail-prison time, for trying to kidnap some fourteen-year old boy....because of some sexual fantasy thing going on in her mind.  

Whole thing?  If you were a screenplay writer....the whole story....deserves a script/movie.  

Finally, lets say that Paul was just a pure up-and-up victim here.  This attack would convince me to haul-ass out of SF, and find some safe gated-community in Florida to retire in and feel safe with 24-hour guards at the community gate.  For normal people, that would be the first thing in their mind after exiting the hospital.  

What Should Happen To Liz Cheney?

 There's probably forty-odd people who served out of DC as either a House member or Senate member....claiming to be Republican, and spent four years in some 'reality' staging a front against Trump.  At the end of the Trump era (Jan 2021)....if they'd just shut-up and gotten on with their regular job....all of them might have survived on. 

Well....most just weren't finished in January 2021, and continued along some path to show folks they were still anti-Trump.  One can't really say what the payback was or how they saw this 'purpose' in life....but it had become like some passion or Baptist-type 'revival' situation where they just couldn't walk away.

So you come to Liz Cheney.....thinking with all her passion....folks in Wyoming would just sign up and do another primary-win for her.  That didn't happen.

Liz more or less doubled down.....saying she'd campaign for some Democrat in another state, and suggested she'd be some political figure still....appearing on TV and being a ultra-moderate Republican.

I suspect that CNN or MSNBC will hire her for a one-year period....thinking they can still use her 'used-car-sales' gimmick.  At the end of the one-year, I think she's finished....too toxic to attract anyone, and will end up let go.  At that point, she'll try to write a book and explain herself, but most folks are finished listening to her.  

In ten years.....no one will really remember Liz Cheney and that will be the last chapter written on the topic. 

Is Swimming Racist?

 I sat and read through a paragraph-long story which goes to a comment by John Fetterman's wife (he's a candidate for Senator in Penn).  She said in a blunt statement....that even swimming is racist.

I pondered over this for a while.

How do you logically come to a view of racism being a feature of swimming?  You might make the statement that only whites know how to swim....because they hang out at pools.  Statistical proof?  Zero.  If you live in the inner-city of Baltimore.....as for pool attendees....it's probably a 7-to-1 black to white situation.  Same story for New Orleans.

Back around three years ago, someone did a statistical review and said that almost two out of three black kids can't swim.  Course, this was a national type survey, and generally avoided just collecting on highly urbanized areas like Chicago or Detroit.

If you went to dirt poor communities in West Virginia, and asked on whites knowing how to swim?  No one cites numbers, but I'd take a wild guess that fewer than 10-percent of white kids know how to swim in that particular region.  If you applied polling in Alaska?  Ha....I bet fewer than 5-percent of white Alaskan kids know how to swim.

People taking this Fetterman statement as bogus?  I think they will mostly laugh and just not take it as a absolute sure statement.  

Binge TV Viewing Again

 This week, I concluded 'surge-viewing' of Stargate Universe (2009-2011)....forty episodes. 

Living overseas....there are a lot of shows which I just never saw before.  

So my ten observations:

1.  They tried awful hard to connect this show to Stargate itself (1990s show) and instead, it just appeared to be more Battlestar Galactica instead.

2.  You have to watch this show in precise alignment (1, 2, 3, etc).  It's one of those that you can't skip around.

3.  Must be forty-odd characters that have pieces and parts in the episodes, which makes it a bit odd.

4.  They never showed the WC or restrooms of the ship, and I just kept wondering about that part of the human element.

5.  Episode 1 and 2 are pretty 'lame'.

6.  Almost all of the aliens are not to be trusted.

7.  Based on food available on the ship....I would have lost 40 pounds in the first month alone, and been dead by week eight.

8.  I think if one of the big-boy networks would have taken it on.....maybe doing 15 episodes a year and given it a better chance of survival.

9.  The mad-scientist guy should have been left on some alien planet by episode five. 

10. It's funny that I missed viewing the show for almost 13 years.....then discover it by accident.  

Radical Nudists?

 As the newspapers laid out the Paul Pelosi attack (in his home)....several things came out.  Paul knew the guy on a first-name basis.  The dude was dressed in his underwear (we assume his, not Pauls) when the Police arrived.  And the guy was identified as a radical nudist agenda guy.

So I picked this up and asked the question....what the hell is a radical nudist?  Being from Alabama.....I'm kinda unfamiliar with this revolutionary nudists.

Originally, this group started up in the UK....around 100 years ago.  They had four significant agenda items.....vegetarianism, pro-nature/pro-environmentalism, free sex (meaning no real attachment), and improving your hygiene.  

There are various groups in Europe, and the US.  

One odd aspect of the group.....no matter how your body 'look' or style is.....it's damn fine by members of the group.

So the more I looked into the group....the more they look like normal everyday swingers.  

It begs the question....was a Paul just a friend, or a member of the group?

Observations

 1.  It does seem odd with this beating on Paul Pelosi (husband of Nancy)....that he was on a first name basis with the attack guy....who happened to be dressed in underwear (either his or Paul's underwear), and mostly known by the police as a 'nude activist'.

Course, I don't know much about nude activism, and rarely talk with sociable friends dressed just in their underwear.   In Alabama, we'd be suggesting drugs or booze being involved, and question the friendship.....particularly if the person wasn't someone of the opposite sex.

2.  News media says around 18-percent of Americans had to skip a meal, or deny themselves food.....because of the inflation rate.  Yet, oddly....no one is saying that they are starving or losing weight.  Something here doesn't make sense.

3.  Uvalde police now say they were fairly fearful of getting shot, when the school shooting took place.....even though they were armed and wearing 'flak-vests'.  

4.  Polling indicates for mid-term....that 40-percent of all Hispanic votes will go to the Republican candidates.  

5.  Newest conspiracy chatter in the US?  Poll watchers are not what they seem.  There may well be people who claimed Democratic status and signed up to be a poll watcher, but reality is that they are Republican in nature.  We may have to force folks to sign a 'blood-oath'.

6.  Tim Robbins said this week: "You can't over-regulate people's lives."

Well....he might be wrong on this.

7.  Presently, I'm counting four Senate races that should be won by Democrats....and it appears that it'll be a Republican win instead.  Just odd how 2022 has played out and four Democrats went sour in the final three months before the election.

Court Case

 I've probably watched around seven hours of the Darrell Brooks murder trial.  In short summary, he ran over six people in a Christmas parade last year.....now has six counts of homicide, with 76 additional charges.  He started the trial....saying he was a sovereign citizen....challenging the court that they did not have authority over him, and was going to defend himself.

What I'll say....he's not an idiot, or clear-cut nutcase, but his intention to say he can kill people and avoid consequences....just doesn't sell.

4th grad mentality?  Yeah, this shines through with each hour I view the case.  He desperately wants the judge to screw up.

He reminds of those guys who smoked high-THC weed twice daily for thirty years, and believes that he lives in his own little world.  

His mother?  She says he has a fairly long history of mental issues and isn't coherent.  You would think the judge would have established that back in the spring after the eval.  

The odds that this case will be thrown out on appeal?  I'm giving it a 50-50 chance.  

This sovereign citizen BS?  You see it mostly in the US and Germany.  If you were that stuck on this....you should go to the Pacific region....find some island, and just try to live out your life without the 'extras' that your nation provides. 

The Ten-Year Spiral Accomplished in Two Years

 There was a study done....by Understanding America.....roughly 7,000 folks who were checked out (over the age of 18).  This is what you'd call a personality test.

So they looked at five things....neuroticism (how you handle stress), extroversion (your ability to work or socialize with folks), thinking (more so to your creativeness),  how agreeable you are in trusting people, and conscientiousness (which means your ability to be responsible). 

People change and evolve....on a routine basis, and this is a known fact.

So what they discovered here was that in a two-year period (the Covid era).....people evolved in a critical way.....at a quicker pace.   What you would have done in ten years.....you did in two years.

Between the complex closed-off society we lived in.....the amount of BS we put up with.....growth of skepticism....and general view of stress (being limited on how to handle it)....we've developed a problem.

The thing that I'm curious in.....will this trend continue (at the same pace) and just how bad will things be in ten years?

Four Observations

 1.  This Pennsylvania Senate race: Oz versus Fetterman.

I've come to an opinion that Fetterman is so screwed up health-wise....that perhaps he's got a more terminal/limiting problem, and the tactic here is to arrive....work for six months, and then have the governor appoint Fetterman's wife (a migrant-turned-US citizen) to the Senate job.  It's stupid but legal.

2.  Elon firing 75-percent of Twitter employees.

Well....it's going to be rough because there's just not enough jobs out there for these poor folks, and they will linger for a year.....waiting for some dream job to appear, then accept a pizza delivery situation.

3.  Social Security is about to allow folks to select their gender.

Being a Social Security guy....I intend to select 'super-duper-gender' (not really existing) and hope that some idiot asks me to define it.

4.  Home sales falling to a 10-year low.

Looking for recession hype....it ought to rank near the top.

My 'Disability'

 I had to go off to the Air Force clinic yesterday (standard stuff).  So Airman 'Snuffy' handed me a sheet at the front desk, and asked me to read it.....noting things.

I sat in the waiting room and attempted to read it.  

It was in the smallest possible font size possible.  I gazed at it for 30 seconds.....how the hell do they expect me to read this?

Somehow, I managed to read about 70-percent of it, and attempted to 'X' through things.  

Then I came to a question.....asking me if I had a disability?  I responded: "Only one, I can't read small sized writing'. 

The problem is....they simply tried to cram four pages of questions onto one single sheet.  Looking back at my era (1977-2000), we never had sheets like this.....but we never had so many odd questions to ask people.  We didn't care if you smoked.  we didn't care if you were disabled.  We didn't care if you drank.  You came to a clinic for some physical woes, and that was 'enough'.  

The Thing About ID Cards

 For years, I've been waiting for some journalist or polling organization to go out and poll the general public to see....out of 10,000 adults (over age 18)....how many have a ID of any type.

Being a simple yes/no question?  No....I'd say you show me a ID of any type....you get a $10-bill.  

My humble belief is that out of ten-thousand....other than seriously deranged/homeless people or jail/prison folks.....99-percent of Americans have an ID of some type.  

From age 15 on, I've had an ID of some type.  If  you asked me presently.....I probably have six different IDs of various types (two even for Germany).  

I'm pretty skeptical over the ID chatter.  There are a hundred different reasons why you need an ID today, and if you tried to survive without one....there's various ways you'd be denied service.

But what really gets me.....shouldn't someone like CNN, or Time, or the WSJ.....go and really survey the public on this?  

How Things Might Turn Out

 1.  January, a Republican House, and Hunter Biden.  

I think some part of the Justice Department is currently hustling up some marginal charges....enough to tell the House committee in January that they can't start an investigation because DoJ has already got one going.  Whether this is enough to cease a massive investigation.....unknown.

2.  Trans clinics.

Before the end of 2023, I expect some civil cases to come up....over American trans kids having committed suicide, and various trans clinics will be facing civil court action.  It'll be enough to worry the clinics over their limited legal insurance, and you will see a rapid shutdown of these clinics going on into 2024.  

The doctors associated with the clinics?  They probably have figured out the end-result for their career, and planning on cashing in....leaving the US for South America.  

3.  US-Saudi relationship collapsing.

By the end of 2022, I expect the Saudis will view the US relationship as a joke, and will openly challenge the US position on things in the Middle East.  If you were expecting gas prices to remain at $3.44?  No....by January, it'll be closer to $5.00.  Who to blame?  Well....the Biden team has marginalized the relationship to a great degree, and one ought to ask why, or if this was intentional.

4.  Florida plans to delete licenses for teachers in kindergarten to 3rd grade, if they discuss sexuality or gender?

My gut feeling is that around two-hundred teachers are probably in the mix, and will be shocked when terminated over the license.  Who fills their shoes?  Unknown.  

5.  Jim Acosta from CNN to end up at Fox.

Some chatter says that Acosta will be let go by CNN.  Just my humble belief....I think Acosta might end up at Fox.

This Rumor Chatter of A Trump-Gabbard Ticket?

 This week, via social media....I noted the chatter over a potential ticket of Trump with former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard.  

Serious?  No....I haven't seen Trump discuss the matter and the idea begs a lot of questions.

First, would the Republican Convention agree to Gabbard?

Second, what kind of platform would this end up being?

On debate talents?  Gabbard is probably one of the ten individuals that I'd prefer not to meet up in a debate....she does her homework and has positions staked out.  She's not an idiot.

On attracting Democratic voters?  Lets be honest and admit that probably 50-percent of the Democratic base is now frustrated and angry enough to depart from the standard Democratic position.

Putting DeSantos in a bad position?  Yeah, and that's probably the biggest issue.  I could see Trump running with her....then in 2028....Gabbard runs as a Republican, and the DeSantos era never occurs.  

Investigation Chatter

 The District of Columbia (DC) Attorney General (AG) wants to open a formal investigation of 'busing' illegals into DC-City.

I should note....it's just a PR-announcement.  He doesn't say how the inquiry would work, or how much effort would be put into this.

The basic facts?  Some folks from Texas and Florida are funding chartered buses to take illegals across state lines....to DC (among other places).  

Each person was given a slip of paper....advising this was a 'deal' (free ticket), and the destination was 'x'.  I should note here....it was in several languages (it's possible that the migrants can't read, and that might be a legal issue).

So far?  195 buses have arrived in DC.....giving them roughly 8,200 folks.

Having lived up in the region of DC....I will say that local services are crappy and regular homeless people.  Around two years ago.....the estimate for homeless folks in DC was 6,000.  

But here's the other factor.....most all of the 8,200 folks....I believe....have found Latino networks....gotten jobs, and probably living in non-city provided homes (going out into Maryland and Virginia).  The work they've taken up?  Well....it's work that local black community would have had (landscaping, restaurant work, pubs, and construction).  

The AG worried?  Lets say the trend continues....with another 8,000 by April of 2023.  Journalists will eventually start asking stupid questions, and this whole sanctuary city stuff will become a joke.  Meanwhile....let's imagine DC by spring of 2024 (election period starting up) and 25,000 illegals now in the city.  Just how will this dynamic work, and angry will be population of legal residents of DC become, and who do you blame?

Bisexual Superman Fails?

 In the summer of 2021....DC Comics announced that a new storyline would occur with the comics.....Superman would flip and become bisexual.....doing both women and men.  

At the time, a fair number of people laughed over the suggestion. 

Yesterday....DC announced that bi-Superman is ended.....the December issue will be the final storyline for this episode.

September's numbers for issues sold?  It ranked for the month....at number 77 among comics worldwide....sold. 

How they will explain the 'end'?  No one says much.  Maybe he'll just wake up....brush his teeth.....watch some CNN news, and decide bi wasn't his thing.  Maybe there's some evil 'Doctor Doom' in the mix....who knocks Superman in the head and gets him back to 'straightness'.  

Looking over the profits of the past year....one can say it's marginally enough to pay the writer and artists involved.....let alone provide profits for the owners of DC. 

In a way, it's a statement about our society and how bad decisions are routinely made now.  

The Fetterman Senate Race

 The Pennsylvania Senate race has become something of a comedy.  There's no doubt that Fetterman is mentally 'damaged' from his stroke, and should have been replaced four months ago.  

Early on in my Air Force career.....stationed in Germany....one day, it came up in the Stars and Stripes that a weekend incident had occurred at Hahn Air Base, with the Security Police dorm.  What was said.....Airman so-and-so had been drinking on the 3rd floor level....sitting on the window area, and fell out backwards.

He had a concussion and spent around six weeks in a clinic situation.  So the doctors came to say that he had issues....but the Stars and Stripes never went onto tell the rest of the story.

I would transfer to McChord (Tacoma) and there in the Civil Engineering squadron....was this new guy in the paint shop.  Some days later in the dorm.....I got introduced to the guy, and found that he was the 'fallen' Hahn airman.  Doctors had decided he could return to duty.....but could not be trusted to hold a gun/weapon.

'Jay' in simple terms....was normal....but it took him about 10 seconds to translate whatever you said.....to some understanding.  If you were talking about something complicated?  Forget about it.  If you asked me about his level of doing things?  He was probably functioning at the 4th grade level.  

Most of us in the barracks told Jay to exit out at the 4th year, and ask for a medical disability situation....figuring he ought to get 100-percent.  But part of this story is that he caused the accident himself, and he'd been told that a disability situation was going to be hard to obtain. 

I often wondered what happened to Jay.  Someone from McChord bumped into me five years later, and knew of Jay....saying he had re-enlisted and intended to stay 20 years.  

My gut feeling is that Fetterman is not that functional and intends to retire in the summer of 2023, and is hoping that the Democratic 'player' running for Governor.....wins, and will announce himself as the fill-in guy for the empty seat.  

Polling right now?  Shapiro (the Democrat) is about 10 points ahead.  

All of this being a joke?  Yeah....it's going that way, with Fetterman losing popularity almost daily.  

South Africa Chatter

 Around two weeks ago in South Africa.....a bill passed which lays out the framework to 'grab' farmland, orchards and vineyards in the country....owned by whites, and to place them into the ownership of native blacks.

A done deal?  Not quiet yet....it has to pass via the National Council of Provinces (their version of the Senate).  

The basic deal?  They aren't saying 100-percent of the farmland will be taken, but when the order is given.....there will be no payment for the 'grab' (expropriation without compensation is in effect).  

For about five years, I've followed the talk, and while in South Africa....I had a conversation or two with locals about how this would work, and how it would fail.

First, most people believe there is a list floating around that notes the top one-hundred profitable farms, vineyards and orchards in the nation.....with those being the primary ones to be taken.  

The receiving parties?  You never hear much chatter about this but locals general believe it'll all be relatives or 'kids' of African National Congress party members.  It won't matter if they have a farming background or not.

It is my belief that the national and regional banks are in a state of fear of this moment arriving.....with various farmers having massive loans and the white farmers losing their property....immediately leaving the country.  The banks being stuck with losses?  More than likely.  The government grasping this?  No....don't anticipate that.

Those acquiring the vineyards and thinking their product can go right onto the world market, with the same label and name?  No.....don't count on that.  I expect several markets to force a new wine label name.  These new and incoming owners having any knowledge of the wine business?  No.....that's probably problem.

Farm equipment quietly exiting South Africa for Namibia? I would suspect right now.....tractor trailer rigs are taking assets across the border, and there will be a shortage on tractors for the incoming new owners.

All of this leading to a food shortage?  Yes.....without much doubt....for 2023, 2024 and 2025....there's going to be a shortage in the common goods you'd normally buy.

I would anticipate this farm grab to be described as a 5-star failure by the end of 2025.  

Trans Women Biden 'Rule'

 I noticed this yesterday.....the Biden Administration came out and said if you were born a male, and did a trans situation (saying you are now female)....by law, you have to go and register yourself for the 'draft' (Selective Service).

The odds that trans women will do this?  No one says much.  I personally have my doubts that any of them....upon reaching 18....will go and sign a government form indicating they are male, when they are trans women. 

All of this coming to be a mess for Congress to clean up?  Yeah, my humble view is that it'll be challenged in court and require some kind of law change.

Three Things I've Noticed

 1.  There's some Canadian court reviewing the idea of banning the Canadian government from sending migrants/immigrants back across the border....to the US, because they think it's too dangerous there in the US.  

Yeah, it's a bit weird, but if you asked me if things were safe in Seattle or Portland....just in general....I'd say no.

2.  If you went and asked adults to define adjectives, nouns, pronouns, and verbs....probably less than 50 percent of adults can give you a decent explanation.

3.  I had a chance recently to watch 1974's 'Hercules in New York', with 'Arnold'.  I got about 15 minutes into it, and turned it off. It was truly one of the worst movies I've seen in my life.

Armageddon

 The first time I ever heard the word mentioned in my life (Armageddon)....was some Baptist revival in the early 1970s, and the visiting minister had chosen to use the book of Revelation (last book of the New Testament).

To be honest, it is the most untouchable book of the entire Bible (Old and New Testament).  I should note that it's original language is Greek....not from the tribal language of the Judah region.  The guy who wrote the piece?  'John' is mentioned but most don't think it's the John that most folks thought of.  

Why untouched?  It describes future events, and is a pretty dismal projection of the future to come.  

Armageddon as a word?  It was some place where the battle of all battles was to be fought, and leaving a lot of people in misery and woes.  It was supposed to be the moment where good people came to fight evil people.....with the good winning in the end.  You usually get some wordy piece where the wicked folks all die off in the Armageddon.....with only good folks standing around.

This week, President Biden used the word....trying to assign it to the Russians and Putin.  Without really saying it.....you got the impression that the Russians can only be the bad and wicked folks, in the end.

I should note here that Norse folks (Vikings, Icelandic folks and Danes)....also have a word for use in this manner....called 'Ragnarok'.  It typically means this great battle or disaster has occurred, and a 'cleansing' action is underway afterwards.....where the good people (survivors of course) go forth and repopulate the world (meaning partying, lusty women, and things return to normal).  

The difference between Armageddon and Ragnarok?   Most folks are negative about Armageddon.....seeing it as a ordeal and bunch of dead folks at the end, while the Viking got excited about Ragnarok because boozing-up and partying were part of the end-result.  Kinda funny how the two groups saw things.  

The Right Stuff Dating App

This past week....a dating app opened which mostly relates to conservatives guys and gals.  The logic here is that things have deteriorated enough....that liberals only want to hang out with liberals, and conservatives are going the same way.

I sat and pondered upon this.

In the 1970s, your political angle in life didn't really amount to much.  Your key status on date success?  Can you dance?  Can you socialize and be all chatty without the use of alcohol?  Do you have any funny stories?  Does your date success go beyond bowling?  

Personally, I don't think this political bickering and limits on dating started....until you get to social media (Twitter/Facebook) being offered up in the 2008 to 2012 timeframe.

Will the dating App work?  I'm fairly skeptical.  

To be honest, with 90-percent of 25 to 35 year old guys who say they are conservatives....they are looking for some gal who is a bit flirty (10-percent slutty-status)...who gets a bit reckless on occasion....bowls in the 150 range....drinks beer from both a glass and a can.....has a passion for college football on Saturdays....knows the difference between Marvel and DC.....and doesn't mind a gal who dresses fairly poorly or has a 1980s fashion-statement.  

What I expect to happen?  A number of female leftists will toy with the idea of joining up and participating in this conservative dating effort......to prove a point.  But along the way....they discover that the liberal-but-fake-conservative gal is falling for the genuine conservative guy.  Then the problem comes up....how you explain to the poor guy that you misled him, and are really a ironclad Democrat, who is pumped up still about Hillary.  

This won't end well.  

"Just Leave' Chatter

 As days lead onto weeks, and weeks onto months.....the war in the Ukraine continues.  

This week....the Finnish PM (Sanna Marin) was asked about how to end the war, and she had this simple quote: “The way out of the conflict is for Russia to leave Ukraine. That’s the way out of the conflict.”

In truth, Putin has an agenda which has existed since the middle of 2021 in his mind.....that a little war can occur....territory can be taken, and the glory of the Putin-era can be 'crowned'.  Stuff of legends....so to speak.

Presently, I believe Putin still believes he holds some 'royal flush' in his hand at the poker table.  There may be 50,000 dead Russian conscripts in the mix, 700,000 Russians who've left the country, and a 20-year rebuilding (costly) campaign that the country really can't afford.....but there's some propaganda 'pay-off' once the Ukrainians just say they surrender.

This week, the Nobel Peace Prize guys decided to get into the middle of this, and awarded the Peace Prize to a Russian group (anti-Putin folks).....who promptly found that their headquarters in Moscow has been confiscated by the state for illegal existence.

There are three things that I'm waiting on to play out:

1.  By Feb 2023, I expect around 10,000 of these newly drafted-up Russian reservists to walk up with white flags and surrender in the Ukraine. It'll probably reach a stage where buses will be at the Ukrainian border, and hauling the guys (now in some sports gear instead of military gear) off to France and Germany where they are given some asylum paperwork.  Their families will be quietly accepted as part of the deal (my bet).

2.  Alcoholism will be 'branded' as the major problem in the activation of the 300,000 reservists arrive and are unable to function in daily warfare or military lifestyle....without a significant amount of booze.  

3.  Some Russian journalists will stumble upon the problem of a dozen commanders per week being killed by their own men, and get lectured by Moscow that you can't talk or mention this ongoing problem.

There's going to be a 'legend' written at the end of this war, but it won't be very kind to Putin's belief in himself. 

What'll Happen To Twitter?

 I suggest five things:

1.  I think people who are of the far left extreme....in the first week of Musk ownership....will dissolve their account and try to survive via Facebook.  

2.  I think around two million Americans who did not have a Twitter account prior to this....will venture over and become Twitter users....meaning of a neutral or right-wing variety.

3.  I think Twitter will matter in the final ten days of the mid-term election, and swing some voters away from Democratic candidates.

4.  I think regular everyday type users of Twitter.....won't notice a single thing different.

5.  Finally, as unprofitable as Twitter is currently....I think the same situation will occur under Elon Musk.  However, I expect the headquarters to up and move (to a tax-friendly state), and the operations center to non-west-coast state.  By this move, more than 40-percent of the cost of running the operation.....will dissolve in a matter of one year.  

TV Chatter

 Around 1969, via Saturday morning cartoons.....I got my first dose of Scooby Doo.  It was a simple format.....a comical dog, Shaggy the 50-percent hippie, Freddie the beach boy type, Daphne the model type, and Velma the geek.  Freddie was always portrayed as dating Daphne, and Shaggy was portrayed as dating Velma.  

Well....this week, the cartoon guys decided to go and make a new series of Scooby Doo, and Velma would be lesbian.  

I didn't really see the need or urge to do this.  

I mean....if this makes sense, then why not go back to the Flintstones and make Barney a bondage guy?

Or perhaps make the Roadrunner into a hanky-panky type of character?

Or perhaps take that Johnny Quest character and have him at age 14 all hooked-up with some 50-year old female bartender?

But why stop there?  Couldn't you re-work the Brady Bunch and have Carol (the housekeeper) in some three-way with the neighbors?

Or how about Fred Sanford having some kinky weird ideas?

Where this is all leading to?  Unknown.....it used to be a simple TV kid's murder mystery with a comedian dog, and now it has to revolve around lesbian Velma?

Completed Five Seasons of Boardwalk Empire and Observations

 This week, I finished up the 50-odd episodes of Boardwalk Empire.  If you asked me to define the HBO series....I'd say they took a fair sized chunk of the 1920s/1930s American history....which had to deal with prohibition, the mafia, corruption in government, and consequences of life.  My ten observations:

1.  A lot of killing within the 50-odd episodes. Virtually every single character that you might have gotten attached to....dead in the end.

2.  It's simply a lot of history that people aren't aware of, or were given 10 minutes of discussion in high school.

3.  I spent a lot of time....freezing the frames and looking at landscapes, clothing and cars.  It's a five-star series at giving you the type of clothing and attire of the period.  

4.  One of the few things that people don't grasp....prior to 1920....we consumed a lot of whiskey and beer.  Cocktails?  They all came after 1920 and prohibition.

5.  Get rich schemes?  Virtually everyone was hooked onto some idea.

6.  Travel by train?  It was the normal thing in that era.

7.  I really hadn't thought much about it.....but coffee in the 1920s was 2-cents a cup.

8.  This Remus-character became my favorite of the series.....only because he always talked of himself in the 3rd character ('Remus thinks this would work' would be a comment that he'd speak).

9.  Just me talking, but I always think the 1920s/1930s were the most rich era for evolution of America.

10.  At the end of the 50-odd episodes.....I came to realize that no one of the bunch ever got really rich.  Money slipped in....was spent, and wealth was lost....all in a matter of months, weeks, or days. 

Too Dark?

 In the past week....an episode of 'House of the Dragon' aired, and within minutes after it wrapped up....folks took to social media to complain.

The criticism?  The landscape/lighting....was too dark.  They couldn't see much of anything.

Back when Game of Thrones ran....in the last season....they had an episode like this as well.  I watched the Game of Thrones episode in question and would readily agree....pretty much one-third of the episode was crap.....you saw mostly nothing.

To be honest, I can think of a dozen shows over the past decade (Boardwalk Empire is one of them) where scenes were shot in marginal to zero lighting. 

Its something you would have never noticed in the 1970s or 1980s.  

Today?  Between poor lighting and poor sound....at least once a month.....I'll be watching something and have to adjust the sound to maximum, or halt the video to go strictly to B/W.  It's crap production where some director thinks he's adding value with total darkness.  

At some point in the next year, I expect an idiot to make a movie, where it's in total darkness of some cave, where some demon comes out to terrorize some folks, but you never see the demon.  

“Studies Show That Kids Never Change Their Minds“

 This week, I sat and watched a podcast....where about 30 seconds into it....the comedian spoke to the idea that kids never change their minds.  He tried to be cynical and suggest studies exist that say kids never (ever) change their minds.

I sat for a moment and felt amused.

You could evaluate a hundred kids on one-hundred subjects, and find over a one-year period....99-percent changed their position or mind on each and every subject.  

Chief reason?  I'd say it goes to limited information, accepting some facts at face value, and going with one conclusion only because Teacher X said it was the right conclusion.

Resolving or fixing this?  Maybe if you sat down and discussed reasoning and logic with a 12-year old kid....it might create some filters where face-value situations are tossed to the side and questions filter out the crappy angles to problems.  But we don't seem that interested in creating mini-Socrates/Plato folks. 

The 23-Percent

 This week, I noticed a news report that came out and discussed the condition of American 18-year old 'kids' and if they were capable or qualified for the US military.  According to the survey....77-percent are not able to qualify.  

The hinderances?  Fat, overweight, out-of-shape, drug-use, mentally unbalanced, and inability to handle stress.

I thought about this statistic....basically, only one out of four  high graduates could handle it.  Same number in 1977 (when I entered the Air Force)?  No.  Probably 90-percent of the people in my group could have gone in.

I noticed some discussion about a teacher commenting this week.....they had kids in the class who prioritized home-work,  and rarely accomplished it.  The only tool that the teacher had.....was to limit grade points.  The kids didn't care.  If they did zero homework, and were limited to a 'C' average....that didn't matter.

From the landscape?  It looks crappy, I admit.  The trend will continue and eventually reach a point where only 10-percent of Americans have the mindset or health aspects.....to joint the military.  At that point, it'll be a crisis, and how we correct the 'problem' will be a crisis itself.