The Problem In Selling the Biden 'Brand' In 2024

 There are two Biden 'brands'.....one from 2020....and one that fits into the 2024 election cycle.  Selling each....requires a different approach. 

For each hundred folks that voted for Joe Bien in 2020....I would suggest from the independent side....more than half question his mental stability, and from the Democratic voter side....at least one in ten are shaking their head.

So getting 81.2-million votes a possibility in 2024?  I consider it near impossible.  Plus you have to discount the Covid trend that was mandated in most states.

How many fewer voters?  That's not possible to gauge, but it wouldn't really shock me if we were talking three or four fewer states in the Biden-win column, and a loss of 10-percent of the 81.2-million votes.  

But this leads me to the shock-value sudden episode developing....something where Biden suddenly announces in January of 2024.....he's got ill  health, and pulls out suddenly.....to allow Governor Newsom to suddenly appear.

I sat this past week and counted around a dozen different scenarios....where you could imagine the whole landscape changed in a matter of 24 hours, and the news media just grinning.

I could even see Biden arriving at the Convention in mid-summer 2024....announcing then he's bad-off, opening the Convention to Newsom getting the shock nomination.  

So prepare yourself....whatever you see today as the likely scenario...probably will not be reality in mid-2024.

My 'Dumbass Airman' Story

 I was stationed late in my Air Force career at a base, and about five miles away was a second Air Base (it's best not to mention either of the locations).

One day...an associate of mine at the second base (supervising around six folks) simply noted that Airman X...a guy who'd been at the base for six months was becoming a problem.  

It was a simple story.

Airman X arrived at the site....performed up to standards, never was late, and never had to be 'jerked-around'.....for about 90 days.  

Then one day....Airman X met Airman Wendy.  Airman Wendy was a dental technician....had various body tattoos....several piercings, and you'd probably describe her as eccentric, freaky, and weird.  

Over the course of 90 days....Airman X underwent a transformation.  He got a couple of body piercings, and had a public physical event with Wendy (with three or four folks watching).   Then on one weekend....X decided to get a particular piercing in a sensitive part of the body....in the barracks TV room....with Wendy doing the job, with a audience of a dozen folks observing. 

On Monday, this got back to the First Sergeant.  There was a fairly long counseling session that my associate had to endear, with the 1Lt of the shop and division chief attending, with X and the First Sergeant.  It was one of those drop-dead sessions where you were told what behavior was acceptable and what could not be acceptable.

For about three weeks....things ran fine.  Then the unit held a holiday bar-b-q....where Airman X and Airman Wendy arrived....both with some weird barb-wire head piece.  

The division chief (Lt Col) told my associate in the midst of this bar-b-q....come Tuesday morning....he was to accompany the Airman to his office.  

What transpired that Tuesday.....the Lt Col had gone to base legal and done his homework.  Out came the fitness paperwork....declaring the Airman not mentally fit.  

Up until that point, in most cases I'd seen in kicking people out....it normally took around two-to-three months to discharge people....unless they were nutcases.  

In this case, Airman X was walked to each point requiring dismissal, and the discharge paperwork was finished on Friday morning.  Flight arrangements were arranged for Saturday morning, and he departed Germany.  

It was one of those things where everyone in the shop was told not to bring up Airman X's name again or get into conversations about Wendy, the barbed-wire, or the piercing in the TV room.  It was to be forgotten history.

This ending Airman X's career, and his intense relationship with Airman Wendy?  Well.....yeah.  That's the thing about it.  Wendy stayed on....never affected by any of this.  The medical folks didn't see anything really wrong with her behavior.  That was the one odd part of the story....she continued on.

I've wondered about Airman X, and what became of him.  He probably asked himself later....where he went wrong, and how he got all messed up with Wendy.  Life is that way....you stumble into a pit and usually climb out.  In this case, he just kept lingering in the pit, and getting deeper as each day went by.  

My Redhead Story

 On day one of my Air Force period (1977)....I was at the recruitment center in Nashville, and four of us were set to leave in mid-afternoon for the boot-camp experience (San Antonio).  Three guys and a redhead gal.  I was from NW Alabama, the two guys were from Iuka, Mississippi, and the redhead gal was from the Hackleburg area of Alabama.

At the Nashville Airport, we were given the ticket by 'Sarge' and provided just three instructions....stay together, don't drift off, and hand over the 'records' at the boot-camp processing station.

Boarding the plane...we sat together.  The redhead gal got pretty talkative and seemed to be overly religious and very moralistic.  As the plane taxied around....she insisted we pray for a safe flight.  This being my first ever flight....I kinda wondered if this was necessary.

About 12 minutes later....the stewardess came around and offered up drinks.  The two Mississippi guys ordered beer....which got the redhead a bit disturbed and she told the stewardess that she didn't think that was right.  I asked for a Coke, and a small bottle of whiskey....which got the redhead more disturbed, and she said she was going to report the three of us once we got to boot-camp. I sat for the rest of the flight...fairly worried over getting 'reported'.

Getting into trouble on my first day in the Air Force....brought on anxiety.  

Once at boot-camp, the next 'Sarge' got about 8 seconds of the redhead's report, and told the redhead to concentrate on boot-camp.  That ended my anxiety.  

After that.....I didn't see the redhead for six weeks.  Then I ended up in Wichita Falls...at the Tech School....where on day one....they had a in-processing episode, and here was the redhead again.  This was an morning spent on 'I'm-ok-you're-ok' counseling.  

The Air Force for years and years....spent time each year on this 'I'm-ok-you're-ok' gimmick.  It was supposed to stress to you....that you needed to control your talk or commentary to some degree.  

She was attempting to explain some chapter out of the Old Testament (as much I could figure) and within her 'group'....she was acting in some 1977-version of 'woke' (in a extreme conservative way).

I didn't see the redhead again....for about two years.  

Then at Rhein Main Air Base....in the medical clinic....I sat in some hallway awaiting a vaccination.  Next to me was a open-door, and this conversation was underway between two people.   The subject was....the junior person had apparently had some paperwork done on them....to prevent/forbid re-enlistment.  

For about five minutes, I listened to this 'talk'.  The NCO was explaining that the airman was overly argumentative....constantly trying to one-up authority...everything was a battle. This attitude was continually creating tension within the group.  

Then it kinda hit me....this voice of the airman sounded familiar.  I got up and walked by the open-door, barely gazing over, and yes....it was the redhead from Hackleburg.  

Usually with this prevention-paperwork....it's just awful rare.  The few occasions I ever saw it used in the Air Force....usually for nutcases, serious alcoholics, or low-IQ people who never should have come into the military in the first place.

What happened to the redhead after her four years in the Air Force?  Over the years, I wondered about that.  I would imagine she went back to Alabama....maybe attended some university....probably became a teacher in this highly rural area of Alabama.  And yes, she probably continued to create tension out of thin-air.  

Five Things I Believe Today

 1.  I don't think Fox 'just suddenly' released Tucker Carlson.

I would imagine that by the end of 2022....they (Fox) were already discussing the next contract, and the potential of just not following a new contract.  

2.  On my 'thrill-index', just looking around at how the public has reacted to Joe Biden announcing his 2024 campaign....I'd say for each ten Joe-voters in 2020....I think at least four of them aren't that hyped-up or thrilled.  They were thinking Joe wouldn't run, and that Newsom would be the replacement.

3.  With this pronoun/misgendering gimmick....it's reaching the point where if you did bump into or have to engage upon such a person....you'd mentally 'mute' everything they say and in your mind....focus on them being mentally unbalanced.  Respect is non-existent. I think most people are headed that way, and the enraged crowd hasn't figured this out yet.

4.  Some massive weekend race in progress for FDIC to sell First Republic Bank....to literally anyone....before Monday AM.  Some weird belief that a massive tidal wave will occur.  Where the hell did this occur?

5.  Progress....in some cases....means nothing has changed in thirty years.  

Humble Opinions

 1.  VP Harris?  I think she's wired-up (mentally speaking) to jumble six thoughts into a 44-word sentence...whenever possible.  

I also think she's been that way all the way through high school and university.

I also don't think you can fix this, or cure her of this mental behavior (unless alcohol is involved).  

2.  If you gave most kids the choice of a drag-queen story hour, or an hour of circus clowns.....in 99-percent of the cases, the kids would select the circus clowns.

3.  Whatever definition guys had for 'whores' in the 1970s.....probably still works today.  No evolution or change has occurred.

4.  Presently, I'd say the brightest kid in some 6th-grade class....probably could debate President Biden and in 50-percent of cases....win the debate. 

5.  Tucker Carlson episode.  If you sell a flavor/brand of ice cream, and one-quarter of your profits revolve around that flavor/brand, you don't want to wake up and realize your whole operation is intensely attached to that flavor.  Fox came to that moment, and will attempt to invent a new flavor to make you happy.  If you don't like....then go elsewhere (we still live in a place where a thousand flavors exist).

6.  Existing without an ID on you.  I believe you can still exist in America....without any form of ID.  Naturally, you'd be living in some shack....gathering firewood, relying upon your good health and no prescription drugs.  You wouldn't be cashing checks, owning a car, or flying in a plane.  But you could survive, in the barest fashion possible.  But part of me just wonders....is this what people generally set as goals?

7.  Temptation is a cruel master....particularly if you are in a all-you-can-eat-buffet-restaurant.  A big platter of crappy two-star food....replaces logic/reasoning.   

8.  1991 was the last time that I touched a rotary phone.  I just started to think about that this week.  Over thirty years ago.....and I haven't missed it a single bit.

9.  The idea that all these dedicated transwomen will wake up and realize that only gay guys are interested in them....idolizing them for being a guy looking like a gal.....will unsettle the whole reality approaching us at lightning speed.

10.  I think we've reached a point where being 'kind'....probably won't work with a quarter of the population.  Once you identify such people....being 'unkind' is the only method to handle their behavior.  

Regulating Things Talk

 In my home state (Alabama)....there was a funny turn of events this week.

For over 200 years, the state had never seen a need to regulate drag shows.  They had regulated just about every 'arousal' show that had ever been introduced around the state, and decided this week...that things needed to be made clear on drag hows.

The new law basically says....you won't have a drag show in a library, a school or in the presence of school-age kids. Anywhere else?  Appears ok....if you wanted to do it at a gas station, cattle-sales barn, stripper bar....not a problem.  

I sat and pondered over this.  In 1977 when I graduated high school, if you'd brought up drag shows....most folks would have thought you meant 'tractor-pulls', then you would have corrected them.

Then they would have responded that yeah, they'd been at comedy shows (like the Grand Ole Oprey (GOO) type)....where men dressed up as ugly women.  In this case....you would have correct them again....saying it wasn't a ugly woman contest....but the 'OTHER' type.

In the whole state in 1977....I doubt if there was a single club that featured drag shows.  I might go as far as suggesting that drag shows probably didn't start to be a thing until after 2000.  

Today?  Far as I know....there's just one single place in the state which is a authentic drag show club, and it's in Birmingham.  That's it.  

Again, I go back to the GOO-mentality...I'd suggest that still today (2023)....a quarter of the population thinks what you are talking about is a ugly women contest with guys participating in comedy.

Did we need some law?  It's hard to say....but suggesting that some drag-queen show was open to 8-year old kids, why wouldn't the same 8-year old kids get a right to see a authentic topless stripper show (my humble opinion)?

It just seems like we are on some path where 'shock-values' are seeing how far things can go....before just about anything is accepted....even a 12-year old marrying another 12-year old.  

Yeah, About Those Guns

 Just funny....when they'd done the raid on that Air Force National Guard guy....they (the FBI I assume) released a photo of the room in parent's house, and the gun-collection they took possession.  

At time....I looked at the picture and thought....maybe I was making a mistake but there seems to be some 'red' on the end of the barrels.  My color vision, as I grow older....is crap.

So hats off to Twitter (thanks to Sgt. Bradley USMC).....he blew up the picture and the red is obvious.

What the guns are?  Replicas....airsoft type types.

Are there other real guns?  Well....as far as I can tell at this point....no.  Maybe later....they found some Oswald-like weapons that he ordered from a mail-order house.

Should Trump Just Come Out By Mid-Summer With His VP Choice?

 I saw this uttered this past week, and it just seemed to me.....things are so wild at present...that I wouldn't see a problem if he picked someone like Arizona's Kari Lake (who has been vetted to the maximum already).

Putting Biden/Harris into a tough position?  Lets just be honest and say that on personal appearances/5-star moments.....you just aren't going to get the 'home-run' situation necessary for a campaign.  

Doing this already in mid-summer of 2023?  It's early but lets face it....the primary is a joke unless DeSantis/RFK Jr catch on.

If Trump selected someone who'd not faced 'vetting' in 2022?  Well...it's a big problem if he picked someone to stumble.  

To be honest, after Grenell (the gay guy in Trump's cabinet)....there's just Lake.  I don't see anyone else out there.

Just Observations

 1.  Is there any real primary in 2024?

Well....the way that things are shaping up....NO.

For the moment...SC appears to be the first primary (not Iowa).  Georgia and Michigan will follow NH, SC and NV....then Super-Tuesday will occur.  

I would suggest if RFK Jr were to win in NH (I consider it a possibility) and Michigan...then it becomes a pretty interesting situation.  If DeSantis has not won a outright victory in the first five states?  He's out.  

After Super-Tuesday?  I'd consider the 2024 primary period trending fast downward.

2.  Is Joe Biden a 'Kennedy-Democrat'?  

Joe can probably talk for an hour about how he relates to typical Kennedy-Democrats....but it's mostly all BS.  He can't cite much of anything done over the past two years that puts him into such a category.  

And to be honest....Kennedy-Democrats from 1960....would today be viewed as moderate conservatives.  

3.  This Nashville shooter manifesto being released?

What the FBI said yesterday....it will be released at some point.  My belief?  You won't see it until mid-summer, and at least a quarter of it will be 'cut'.   Anyone's guess why.

4.  What I see Tucker Carlson eventually doing (probably in the spring of 2024)?

Three nights a week, some type of one-on-one debate, with each night picking out one single topic, and arguing about it for one hour.  You'd probably pay $8 a month to watch this and get informative.  

It's the kind of thing that the networks are fearful of, and would avoid.  

5.  This purchase of the Oakland A's baseball team and movement to Vegas?

Well...here's the thing....the city of Las Vegas says they will handle the ballpark (37,000 set indoor stadium).  With the right design....I think in the non-game days and the non-season period....they could probably fill a quarter to half of the stadium with events, and make tons of money.

I also think that the city might hire fifty planners to hype up individual tours from American League cities....with concert tickets and comedy acts drawing folks to fly in and get special deals.

Tons of money to be made for the club, and the city.  

My Security Clearance Review Story

 From the early 1980s....to around 2009....I was in the clearance-required situation, and a review had to occur every five years.  

Other than spending near three hours filling out the form papers....I didn't ever think it was a big deal.

You'd wrap up the paperwork....some security guy would validate the first step, and then six to nine months would pass....with the review 'stamped' and a new five-year period approved.

At some point around 2006, I submitted my papers three months before it ran out.  The security guy processed it and it went on.   

Around six months....near the end of 2006, I asked for a status.  Nothing came.  

Two months passed, I asked for another status (now into Feb 2007).  Nothing came.  

By mid-summer, I was up to eleven months since submission (the longest ever for me).  I asked....any problems?  No.  

Around four more month pass....so I'm up to 15 months since submission.  Now they kinda admit.....they lost my paperwork.  So everything had to be re-generated from scratch.  I was at this point of a full year 'late'.  The security folks basically wrote a waiver form (not wanting to discuss how they lost the paperwork).

Toward the very end of 2008....it finally came back approved.  

Where my original paperwork went?  Anyone's guess.  

Movie Review: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

 I basically had to break this viewing up (via Netflix) into around twenty to twenty-five bite-size 'pieces'....over seven days.  

It is a very weird script.....basically a science fiction piece....where you have to stop about every five to eight minutes and reconcile what you saw.

Yeah, it's one of those movies that you'd probably start with four shots of booze, and slip another shot every 15 minutes.  

How the movie won the Oscar for best movie?  There's just no logical reason.

Recommendation...if you aren't into science fiction....skip it.  

Five Questions I've Started To Ask Recently

 1.  Just odd....why are there so many young people who are objecting to who they are, and trying to portray themselves as something else?

2.  Aren't the TikTok generation overly dramatic in everything they do?

3.  You ever noticed the number of people 'talking' with their hands/gestures....is at a all-time record?

4.  If people are so fragile to criticism....should they be let loose upon the world at age 18?

5. Who started this trend where wearing pajamas in public....was acceptable?  

Q-and-A

 1. Coming to an end for Fox News?

First, remember when newspapers in the 1980s started to tremble and admit they couldn't compete with TV news?

Second, remember when talk-0radio came to a point where reality said....only Rush Limbaugh moves ahead....everyone else is regulated to 'average' numbers.

Third, remember when Time and Newsweak were deemed insignificant?

Fourth, remember when CNN was deemed failing?

I would suggest that we are looking at the two to four year disconnection of Fox News to society.....where they will be like MSNBC/CNN.

2.  What happens to Tucker Carlson?

His contract was supposed to be renewed (probably in excess of $25-M a year). 

I would suggest some deal will be worked out....whatever the current contract has....he'll get bulk of that.  Then he'll sit and probably write a book over the remainder of 2023.  And I suspect he'll end up with a on-line program like Joe Rogan....where you pay $8 a month for view of things.  

3.  All this hype over no debates for Biden in the primary, or Trump in the primary?

Look...back in the 1800s....you went to institutions of higher learning and gained the skill of debate.  At some point in the past fifty years....colleges lessened the idea of debates.

Look around....out of 100 Senators....there might be ten of them with some ability to debate on a topic.  

I don't see a great loss here.  

Eight Things Joe Biden Could Do To Ensure His Win In 2024

 1.  Admit he was into LGBTQ stuff before anyone else, and he had a 'special' friend all the way back into the 1980s.

2.  Give a one-hour speech without a teleprompter and no mistakes.

3.  Whop VP Harris in the head each time she gives some 44-word single-sentence that makes no sense.

4.  Admit Hunter screwed up on taxes, and actually does owe $17 more on his 2019 tax paperwork.

5.  Open up the top secret stuff and admit....yeah, we've got five UFOs and he's personally flown one of them.

6.  Admit he's had dementia since 2004, and it's under full-control with special drugs developed in Mexico.

7.  Announce that he's bringing in six elephants to lounge and live on White House grounds.

8.  Admit he's written four romance novels since his VP days....all best-sellers.

Q-and-A

 1.  Odds of Fox News being prepared to sell?  

By mid-summer, if you see Sean Hannity 'let-go'....I'd say it's a 90-percent chance.  Who buys?  Some non-public company.....like Blackrock....who sees a distressed news group and under-priced.

Fox News never recovering?  I would say their anti-Trump stance and the big guys being let go....sets the new market value to about 60-percent of their peak.  

Who gains viewers?  Podcast group, Joe Rogan, smaller news units.  

2.  Joe Biden having problems in selling his position on LGTBQ and 'counter-can't-define-a-woman' folks?  

Somehow, his key insiders believe this is a big-tent agenda that sells well across the US.  I'd say it's more likely that only 30-to-35 percent of pro-Biden people feel this way.  If you made the election on this agenda....with Joe trying to tell the story....it's a colossal failure.

3.  If people start up being rude and obnoxious......how much effort will it take for you to lessen your negative view of them?

It's kinda like walking into a restaurant and noticing a cockroach on the table as you sit there.  Pretty good odds you will get and leave....never to return ever again.

4.  Can President Biden make a 3-line statement without a teleprompter......without a mistake?  

I'd be willing to lay down a $500 bet that he can't accomplish this. 

5.  CBS saying from a poll that 72-percent of Americans believe 'things-are-out-of-control'?

Polling across the nation.....even I'm shocked at the rate of things.  No one asked though....HOW things are out-of-control.

If you asked me....dealing with paranoid schizophrenic folks, the drugged-up crowd, and regular criminals...probably have drained half the nation of regular patience.  

6.  All this chatter about female crash-test dummies?  

If you have time to worry about this....you might need a new reality to work upon.

Gov Newsom, the National Guard, and SF?

 I sat and read through a piece.....that Governor Newsom of California.....has authorized a activation of California National Guard folks....to help the police in SF.  

So, you start to ask questions.

How many?  Unknown (oddly left out of the news piece).  I would assume it's probably in the range of sixty to a hundred folks.  

Where it comes from?  In the state....the 49th Brigade is a MP-only organization....located out of Fairfield, California. I would assume they got the order.

What exactly would they be doing?  I can only see two scenarios.  First, they might be paired up with SF police (1 and 1).....to carry out patrols for a period of time.  Second, they might be there to just present the resemblance of military folks in uniform....on walk-patrols.

Armed?  I just can't see the Governor approving or allowing this to happen.

How long?  Well....you have to pay these guys, and for each month....for a hundred, by the time you give them their regular duty pay, house them in some hotel, and feed them....you would be talking about around a half-million.  So 90 to 120 days is the max I see this running.  

The look around SF....that you have military people on patrol?  It'd be a scene out of some Judge Dredd movie.  

Even if they arrest people.....charges won't stick because of the local prosecutor, and after two months of that kind of non-action....the Guard guys would openly talk about the stupidity of doing duty in SF.  

These MPs shocked over the duty?  I'd say no...here's the one odd factor.  If you went down the list of guys on the 49th...I would assume that 90-percent are currently real cops or security guys....in their normal day-to-day routine.  It wouldn't shock me if most all of them have done duty in Iraq or Afghanistan in their career.

This might be interesting to watch play out.  

The Problem For the 2024 Joe Biden Campaign

 The general belief....within the next two weeks....is that President Biden will announce his campaign for 2024.  

Where this goes and how different will it be this time?

The DNC says there will be NO debates.....not here in 2023, or in the spring of 2024.....with either of the declared candidates (RFK Jr and Williamson) beside Joe Biden.  

If you look at polling (marginal crap so far).....around 15-percent of Democrats favor RFK....probably less than 1-percent for Williamson.  With some money and Twitter chatter...I would suggest that RFK could get some wins in two to four states (not enough to matter).

That chatter of Newsom?  If Joe Biden runs, then his pick for VP will be Newsom.....with Harris gone.  In fact, it wouldn't shock me if Feinstein acknowledged she was bad off....with Governor Newsom appointing Harris to the Senate position, and Joe bringing on Newsom to be his new VP (crazy five-star speculation).  Newsom made a comment six months ago...if he had to fill it....it'd be a black woman.

So the campaign in spring of 2024?  If Joe Biden doesn't go out and make speeches....it'll be the lowest key run in a hundred years for a sitting President.

Trying to get points between now and November 2024....with a Republican House?  It won't happen.

Woke BS, who is a woman chatter, and trans-stuff being the primary focus of the Democratic Party?  What brings regular middle-class and independent voters to the Biden side?

The affect of Twitter?  Whatever was in some positive trend for Biden in 2020 with Twitter....fails completely this time around with Elon.

The effect of Joe Rogan?  That's another problem.

The burden here?  Newsom, CNN, MSNBC, TikTok, Meta, NPR, etc....carrying the 'water' for Biden?  More or less.  

Add in....Newsom's California is in utter collapse at present, with U-Haul trailers leaving the state each day.  Selling Newsom isn't that brilliant of an idea.

If you ask me....without the debates, and all this woke-stuff in the middle.....this would end being one of the most wild episodes ever.  Toss in the previous Hunter BS with the laptop, use of the FBI as some propaganda tool, and two-thirds of the nation mostly skeptical of a free/fair election. It's a mess.

About That Bear Show

 In the early part of 1977....while still in high school....NBC came out with a series called 'Grizzly Adams'.  Each episode was about 45 minutes long.

For some odd reason, this became a huge discussion item in high school the next day.  We'd meet in the ten minutes prior to class, and a 'talk' would open up....why 'Ben' did this....why 'Nakoma' was always right....why the bear didn't eat someone on the show?

It's funny....the show lasted for two seasons....making around 37 episodes.  Script-wise?  It was 75-percent 'crap' (my humble belief), but NBC was so screwed on material....it probably made sense.

If you tried to produce the show today....it'd be too woke, and be dumped within a week of the first episode. 

Something From the Weekend I Noticed

 'Meet the Press' (NBC) did a poll, and said that 76-percent of voters under age 35....think Joe Biden is too old to run.  Same poll said that from 2020 Joe Biden voter....51-percent of them said Joe Biden is too old.  

Another poll from the weekend said that a majority of Americans (more than 50-percent) believe that 6 January 2021 was a federally-arranged/planned operation.  

Another poll says one out of three Americans don't want Trump or Biden to run....that their frustration level is so hyped up....they can't handle another Trump-Biden election.

Another poll says 62-percent of people believe some level of election fraud occurred in 2020.

Whether you agree or disagree with this landscape....the problem is that the news organizations and political agenda people are now failing at convincing you of 'something'.  

Twitter's fault?  To a minor degree, yeah.  But after a full decade of this propaganda BS....there are more people skeptical today....in some fashion...than ever before.

I'd even go to the point of suggesting that it's a full-time....24-hours a day.....Baptist-type revival going on....for political agendas.  If you walked around and asked a hundred regular people if they were burned out on politics....I'd suggest more than fifty percent would say yes.  

Why The Pentagon Recruitment Crisis?

 At early 2022....the Army (more so than the Navy and AF) started to notice a trend on recruitment goals.  By the end of 2022....the goal was missed by 15,000 (for the Army).  The Navy goal at the close of 2022....missed by 8,000.  The AF simply said that they missed their goal by 10-percent.  

What's happening?  It goes to around 9 problems:

1.  Fat chunky kids who are out-of-shape....are being denied entry and told to lose weight.  Some lose the weight....most don't.  You can go and ask what fitness the kids did in the final year or two of school, and it's a 'joke'.

2.  Drug usage up.  Once you explain the list of forbidden drugs.....it becomes a problem.

3.  Covid vax mandates?  As the services were busy kicking folks out....those folks went out and talked about this issue, and bad-mouthed the Pentagon enough....that interest dropped.

4.  People woke up and realized that a year or two of technical training....was a better avenue than a 3-year contract with the Army, or four years with the Navy.

5.  The woke-stuff?  In small rural areas of Iowa and New Mexico....you just aren't going to bump into pronoun people or woke issues.  Once you realize that the military has a woke-theme?  You probably don't want to participate.  

6.  All the trans and sexualized stuff thrown at you?  Just another issue....why join?

7.  Poorly executed military operations (like Afghanistan)....demonstrating poor leaders guiding you?  Why risk your life for them?

8.  The continual war trend for 30-odd years?  The hype has maxed out.

9.  Early (at 20-years) retirement for a lot of people?  I've talked to a couple in the past year....getting up to their 18th/19th year, and their new focus in life was to wrap things up at 20 and leave.  The 'lectures' and poor leadership thrills were impacting on their priorities in life.  So it's not just a recruitment crisis....it's also going to be a fair number of increased people saying 'enough' at 20 years and not carrying on for another two to four extra years.

What's going to happen?  By the end of 2024, I expect the crisis to be in full impact with the Army admitting a 50,000 man recruitment failure.  Navy and Air Force will be lesser issue.  Discussion of mandating or drafting people?  It'll likely be one of the top dozen issues of the 2024 Presidential campaign.  Joe's agenda?  Draft.  Trump's agenda?  Lessen Europe/NATO mission (down to zero).  

To be frank....I don't think anyone will accept the draft to come back.  If you don't want to be drafted...just take up cannabis/marijuana and start talking about your invisible friend.  The system can't be reinvented again.  

Watching 'Yellowjackets'

 I started this past week watching the series 'Yellowjackets'.  I'm up to the 4th episode presently.

In describing it?  Well....it's a 'Lost-lite' type script.  Some teenage girls soccer team has boarded a crappy low-budget plane to fly over to some championship game.  It requires the plane fly over some edge of wilderness of harsh-Canada (not regular Canada).  There....it crashes.  After five days, they realize that no one is looking for them, and they will be spending most of a year....in some 'Lost-lite' atmosphere.

Then the series takes off to the current society (20 years later)....after their rescue.  Each episode is 50/50....in the past and in the current time.  

Soap-opera-like script?  Well....yeah.

A bunch of mixed-up women in their late 30s?  Yeah.

The script not making much sense?  As bad as 'Lost' was on the script giving you no real facts....this show goes along the same route.

This Misty-character?  She's crazy but likeable.

This Lottie-character?  She's schizophrenic and highly dangerous....especially without meds.  

The thing is.....TV is so crappy that crazy shows like this survive on.  

What Exactly Is A Phobia?

 Over the past decade, I've seen a lot of uses of the word phobia, and I've reached the point of realizing these people for the most part....don't grasp the word/meaning.

When you (yourself) have a phobia....it means you have a irrational 'FEAR' (not hatred) of something.  It might be of spiders, high places, darkness, or police.  

If you have a phobia....then it means that it's treatable by some medical staff.  

If you encounter someone with a hatred for something, and they sit there to explain it in details....with logic, then you can't reshape this to say it's irrational.  If you did....you'd only be faking yourself out.

So all this phobia-phobia?  BS?  Yeah.  It's mostly appearing to be irrational fear of irrational fear.  

The sad thing is....you can't really explain this to people because their rationality has been compromised to such degree.....they'd argue there is a phobia over people who they see on the street....wearing shoes of an Italian brand-name....over an American brand-name.  

My Solution For the Trans-People

 After long consideration, I've come to the perfect solution to make everyone happy.

If you were desiring to be trans....you'd go to a registered hypnotist and just get the full five-star premium job....without the surgery, drugs, hormones or constant visits to reinforce your beliefs.  

The hypnotist would just convince you that all was well....you were trans, and life was perfect.  Maybe once a year, you'd revisit the hypnotist....to update your situation.

I also have an idea to lessen mass murders.....that all Americans would go to a hypnotist to lay a 'script' in your mind....that you can't kill anyone, for any reason.  

Course, the problem is....who would trust the hypnotists?  

My Business Idea

 It came to me this morning.

You go to California...spending four weeks robbing clothing shops each day....at least four to six stores per day, and exiting with $900 of clothing per 'trip'.  Daily-take?  Near $5,400.  At the end of the month, you have $162,000 of value.

You load this all into a U-Haul trailer, and exit the state.  

You set up a shop in some rural area of Arkansas or Mississippi,  where questions won't be asked.  

You sell the items for 90-percent of the listed price from before....making around $150,000 over six to eight weeks.

You let your cousin run this shop, then you return to California for a 2nd,  3rd, and 4th trip....usually every two months.

In three years, you've made enough to retire and you halt the U-Haul robbery routine in California.  

Things That Changed Over 30 Years

 Something I noted over at Twitter today.

Course, in each case....medical attention is prescribed....mostly with pills.

On Bi-polar?  I would suggest that people were nutty, and we put up with it....or packed their bags to haul them off to mental ward.  

Three Observations

 1.  Why the Nashville shooter's manifesto has not been released by the FBI?

I have this theory.  I think it's roughly a 30-to-40 page piece....easily read in 90 minutes, and mostly displays a unhinged person with tremendous hatred for a lot of people.  Blame....dished out in great portions.  Somewhere at the end, the suggested thought is that only by killing a bunch of people....can you accomplish 'change'.

Yeah, it's the kinda stuff that Charles Manson inspired as well. 

In the FBI's belief (my humble thoughts).....it just doesn't make any sense to let this go public. 

2.  What really happened in Dadeville, Alabama, with the shooting?

I think a drug distribution group heard of the party being organized and at some point showed up....thinking they could pump up sales.  They were told to leave by the locals....they returned to teach a 'lesson'.....while duped-up enough....not to grasp the damage that was going to be done.  

Treating the 16-year olds as adults?  It's state law.  

3.  Major US military evacuation starting up in the Sudan?  

Yeah, and it's another test of the Biden camp....if they can plan and carry out such an operation.

That Pentagon UFO Report

 What I see?  You can watch it ten times like I did.  

I see a object that is probably no more than 30 ft above the ground and about the size of a dishwasher.  Speed?  I'm guessing 25-to-35 mph...max (maybe less).

Anything within the Pentagon like this?  No.  Russians?  I'm mostly saying no.  Chinese?  I'm not sure about.

Collecting data?  If it lingered, then I'd say it was collecting phone/radio data.  Photographic summary?  You'd have it at 10,000 feet.

Alien?  Well....no one can be sure.

Just running around a war zone...for alien data collection?  For what?  Doesn't make sense.

Worth viewing.

Four Observations

 1.  Out of the 35-odd school teachers I had (rural Alabama)....for the most part, other than their first and last names....I knew nothing about them.  

Oh, I knew the husband of one....they attended the same church.  I knew the vehicles that two of them drove...because of their constant criticism of the car.  I knew of the summer travels (adventures) of one.  

So all this chatter over 300 facts that kids seem to lecture people on....how they know their teacher or connect to the guy/gal....seems to me to be odd.

2.  Intense amount of chatter today....that President Biden will announce his re-election campaign next week.  BS-factor?  I'd give it a '3'.  

In a non-Covid era....does he have the energy to actually campaign for 100 days straight?  I just don't see that being possible....he might deliver 3 trips a week.

3.  I sat and watched some podcast were the 'crew' kept referring to 21-year olds....as 'boys'.  Frankly, once you get past 16....you ought to 'lose' the boys 'ranking'.

4.  If Hunter Bien was convicted on some tax issue and sent off for 6 months of prison....is it the end of the world?  

70-Percent Versus 30-Percent

 I was watching CNBC today....piece came up....polling data: 70% of Americans are feeling financially stressed.  

How they defined 'stressed'?  That was not clear.

Back around Christmas....I noticed a commentary by someone (older guy) who'd taken some gal to the movies.  I got the impression that he hadn't been out in several years and he was rather shocked that it was in the $30 range for tickets and popcorn/soda.

It's almost daily that I'll read some comment where someone had to replace something (like a refrigerator or washer) and shocked at the price-tag and the delivery fee.  

But the other side of this....30-percent of people aren't financially stressed.  That's a fair sum of people.  

$25,000 in a New York Minute

 The mayor of NY City has loosen up city funds and said....if you own a apartment rental unit, and will agree to lease it to special situations which the city registers low income individuals for....the city will give you $25,000 for renovation.

I sat there a minute pondering this.

Knowing the general cost of renovation in DC/NYC....just to have a electrician to come out and update your fuse box (new one) and have it certified as 'safe' (with new cabling/plugs)....that would drain the $25,000 in roughly 8 hours.  

I can think of twenty-odd renovation jobs....in that particular area....that would each run $15k to $25k. 

This idea that the mayor is doing a 'favor'?  I'd ask about who these people are....getting the special card/status.  

Is High School Tougher Today Than Forty Years Ago?

 I've tried to imagine how a person makes this statement....suggesting that 'old' people had it easy, and that education (particularly high school) has gotten more complicated.

The trouble here...the excuse is used for anyone who is 30ish, 40ish, 50ish, 60ish, 70ish, 80ish and even 90ish..

I might agree that more unqualified or unskilled or unfit teachers exist today.....so you might have a point there.  But then I could point out that half of teachers from the 1970s era....probably had a year or two of some 'teachers college'.  

The books more complicated?  You would think they would have gotten better.  I felt lucky in the 11th grade (1975) to have a 1959 literature book for English classes.

More information?  Well....they have added forty-odd years since 1980....that's probably taking up a whole week of history class.  Just talking over President Obama?  That's probably a week by itself as well.

After a while....my sarcasm rate increases, and I double-up on my skeptical nature.  No....it's not possible that school is any tougher today.  Maybe if you existed in 1920s Arkansas and walked 3 miles to school....you might have a reason that things got easier when buses were introduced.  

The problem here...is that some idiots have convinced themselves....school is more difficult today.  Call it self-hypnosis or whatever....they seem to believe it.  

And here's the bitter truth....in ten years....as these people advance to old age (28)....the next generation will these dimwits that the newer generation of school is even tougher than it was in 2023.  

Iowa

 There are a number of things I learned yesterday.

So at the top....the Iowa state Senate passed a juvenile labor law today that say a 14-year-old kid can work a 6-hour night shift (typically meaning up to midnight), that 15-year-olds can work on assembly lines, and that 16- and 17-year-olds could serve alcohol.  

Why?  It's an interesting thing....the state unemployment rate is near 3-percent.  If you go to Iowa-City....it's near 2.2-percent.  Des Moines?  It's just over 3-percent.  From agricultural operations, to local bars, and onto assembly plants....they are running out of manpower.  

Part of this issue is the rural nature of Iowa, and the other is the continuing crisis where a fair number of men have given up looking/working.  

The bill has yet to reach the House, and the Governor would still have to sign it.  Odds?  I'd give it 50-50 to passing fully.

So I went out into the Twitter area, and found a whole bunch of folks who were negative about this.  

It down to five criticisms: (1) no child should work, period....(2) kids will be losing fingers.....(3) abuse of kids by offering them only minimum wage....(4) farm work is too tough for kids....(5) no one should be around alcohol at such an early age.

Yeah, it was pretty weak criticisms.  

I also learned that if you tried to enter into these discussions....they immediately wanted to know your age group, and that anyone over 50....was not 'smart' on the problems.  

I also was told that education is much harder today (2023) than it was in 1973.  I tried to ask how, and was just told 'it is'. 

Poor communication skills?  Well....quickly you can figure out that you were dealing with 20-year old 'kids' who had a 5th grade mentality.  Almost none of them lived in Iowa or understood the rural nature of the state.

My humble feeling?  

First....on allowing 16/17 year olds to serve?  Most of the pubs around Iowa are 'mom-and-pop' bars....catering to around 40 to a hundred people in an evening.  These aren't wild biker bars....it's just the only outlet in a town of 500....where you can buy a beer.  You end up with a owner who probably works a full-time job in the daytime, and in this scenario....you'd have two part-time teenagers to rack/stack beer.

Second, on 15-years old in an assembly line situation?  Iowa doesn't exactly have a huge industry for assembly situations.  

Radically changing things?  No.  

Ten Things That Have Changed Since 1980

 1.  It's possible to view a fairly ugly woman at a Piggly Wiggly, and then come to realize that she has a penis and is only man-ugly....not woman-ugly.

2.  It's possible to buy a six-pack of beer and feel some political negativity about the beer, and be shamed over the purchase....when around friends or relatives.

3.  If your doorbell were to ring around 11:30 tonight...it's pretty likely you will approach the door with a pistol or shotgun in your hands.

4.  It's likely that you know at least one person who claims to be demon-possessed, and five folks who indulge in significant drug use.  

5.  It's likely that you feel some discontent about attending church because it's a collection of misfits, or morally-lost individuals, or a group who confuse woke as a chapter in the Old Testament.

6.  You can't watch local news without some feeling of propaganda being inserted into their 'theme' or 'brand'.

7.  You know more women today who'd be described as 'whorish' than you did in 1980.

8.  For some odd reason....cherry-flavor vape, has replaced your Pell Mell smokes that you smoked for forty years.

9.  From your group of a hundred friends in 1980....none of them had ever been on a cruise.  Today, out of your surrounding hundred friends....more than half have been on a cruise.  Some even with their first, second and even third wife.

10.  Travel by plane was a special thing in 1980, and you wore nice clothing as part of the experience.  Today, it's  20-percent chance that women in pajamas will be on the flight.  Guys in gym shorts will be on the flight.  And women in revealing attire will be among the passengers.  

The Secret Chinese Police Station: NY City?

 I sat there and envisioned this story from yesterday.

The FBI apparently, after a long investigation....came to arrest two folks who were running a secret Chinese police station....within the US. 

So they were running an actual police station?  Well....NO.  They had some type of contract identifying themselves as agents of the Chinese police....while running operations out of their houses.

Pay scale?  No one says anything.  To be honest, with the cost scale in NY City....each had to be paid something in the $100,000 to $130,000 (my humble opinion).

Police cars? No....no one says much on that.

Actual charges?  Conspiracy to act as foreign agents.  They didn't rob anyone or assault anyone.....just acting as agents.

What they were doing?  Best you can assemble from the data....they were out to harass or bother Chinese citizens who'd left China and settled in the NY City area.  Yeah....intimidators.

After a while....you'd think why badge-up two guys to be secret police?  You'd be better off to just hire two regular thugs to go around and intimidate folks....without a badge.

The end of the story?  I'm willing to bet...across the US...there's probably forty of these operations.  Two guys hired in each major city....go intimidate folks, and be secret police in the US.  

Just Observataions

 1.  Coming up to the third day where no arrests have been made in the weekend shooting in Dadeville, Alabama shooting (4 dead and around 29 wounded).  

Only facts?  DJ was told that folks in the party group (around 10:30 PM) were carrying weapons, and stopped the music....shooting started abruptly.  Casings picked up so far?  Non-rifle shells.  Pistol-use only.  Beyond that....nothing.  Lot of suggestions of gang activity....zero proof.

2.  Once we have five or six Artificial Intelligence programs, and they all seem to disagree....will we admit that AI is crapped-out? 

3.  I noticed that some guy (or gal) is putting 'for rectal use only' stickers on Bud-Light cases of beer.  I wouldn't advise it (using it rectally).

Why I Like H. L. Mencken

 "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." 

-- HL Mencken

By the time that Mencken had died in 1956....there were probably 20,000 quotes like this, and they are timeless....even today.

Just Observations

 1.  I just find it odd....the CEO of Bud-Light....is former CIA.  In the 1980s/1990s....if you were reviewing CEO options, most board people would have laughed if you went the resume over and the guy had three to five years of CIA time.

2.  Without news 'flow' on Twitter....I see NPR as a lesser seen or heard news source.  Funny how they were designed (in the beginning) to bring culture, good taste, and literature to the public.

3.  President Biden's four-day vacation to Ireland ended....with a two-day weekend in Delaware (vacation II).  

4.  I will predict by the end of 2023.....some trend will start up where people want to present themselves as a new gender.....as a werewolf.  Doctors will be able to give certain hormones to increase hair, and enough brain-washing....to convince you of your werewolf status.  More than 300 young people....some as young as ten years old....will proclaim trans-wolf status.

5.  Some Democrats by the end of the 2024 election period....will admit that no one much under the age of 21....has the maturity to assemble facts and vote in a logical fashion.  They suggest this mostly because of the significant voting pattern by the 18/19 year olds....in voting for Trump.

'Black Adam'

 I sat this week and watched 'Black Adam' (the movie).  Three observations:

1.  Even though I thought Green Lantern (the movie) was a five-star failure.....this movie is even worse than Green Lantern.

2.  Justice Society 'garbage'?  Pretty much a doomed feature of the script.

3.  This is a character situation that you can lock up and forget about....for future movie consideration. 

My 'Two-Cents' On The Air Force Airman Arrested For Classified Issues

 First, he seems to have done it without a dollar being offered by the Russians, or to help some NY Times journalist blast the government....which typically....in 99-percent of past cases, was the case.  

Driving force?  He just wanted to impress fellow gamers that he had knowledge and where it came from.  That's it.....nothing else.  

I don't think the security guys have ever had to deal with such a unique situation.  

Second, from the Pentagon prospective....I'd probably now be worried, because they probably have a minimum of 500 young people with the clearances....in such jobs....gamer-mentality, and with the attitude that they'd like to impress people with their knowledge.  

I have no idea how you'd approach such people and openly talk about consequences in life....then repeat this every other week as a reminder. 

Third,  based on charges chatter....I'd say ten to twelve years will be the sentence.  He can probably just admit guilt, and get some nicer jail with the plea agreement.  With time off....he'll be out in eight years.  

Fourth....other than boot-camp, this approaching jail-time will be the only time he hasn't gamed in the past fifteen years.  

Fifth and final.....it does seem odd....so many people can't imagine that you'd give a TS clearance to a 21-year old kid.  I see this over and over on Twitter.  

It just seems like in their mind....that you'd have a locked-down crew of only a couple thousand throughout the entire US government, with TS clearances.  And this is simply not reality.  Probably hasn't been that way since the 1960s.  

Ten Things I Tend To Believe Now

 1.  Probably 3-percent of Americans because of drug, alcohol or mental issues.....should not be allowed onto passenger planes, period.  

2.  Based on the way that Stormy Daniels said it....she's probably had at least one-hundred Hollywood or professional sports guys in her history.  It's best not to ask who.

3.  I think we are just months away from having 500 Americans walking around and trying to identify as 'Jesus'.  If you thought things were chaotic now....just wait.

4.  I expect by 2025, some national agenda to forbid erasers on pencils because of the danger that kids/adults might chew on the eraser.

5.  I think we are going to normalize mental illness (the really bad stuff) as just plain regular lifestyles....to be handled via prescription pills, and wake up in five years to admit that was the worst possible thing to do.

6.  People will start to admit that 'fake news' is really just a narrative situation....where the top 300 news sites in America....neatly fit into this description.

7.  Someone will eventually come to a point of making the case that women don't need special rights because of the trans-movement taking the lead in rights.

8.  Bud Light will go away, probably by the end of 2023.  A new beer will appear in the spring of 2024....oddly tasting the same as old Bud Light.  The VP of advertising who triggered the 'problem' will be promoted.  

9.  Male lingerie outfits will start by marketed by the end of 2023.

10.  A drug will be developed and marketed.....to just plain make you into a dumbass.  You will pay $35 a week to some dealer....who will slip four pills in a envelop....which lowers your IQ by one-third.  

Leaker Story

 For about two weeks, I've been following this leak of Top Secret material in the US national news.  They have figured out the guy....20s....gamer....fitness fanatic....haven't said if he was Air Force or Army.

What'll happen to him?  Pretty severe consequences if they go to the normal methods of the 1990s.  He'll be doing 20-odd years in prison. 

Having had the clearances in early 1980s....I generally felt some responsibility over doing the 'right-thing'.  Ninty-nine percent of people that I worked around....were that way.  

At some point around 2000....you could tell that individuals were coming into the Air Force, who mentally weren't prepared for the responsibility.  I'm not saying they were reckless or careless.....just that they didn't feel a 'burden'.

The gamer community?  I'd say they were mentally distracted....going to make a momentary irrational decision, without much thought process put into it.  

What the intelligence community ought to do now?  I'd probably huddle....review the people with clearances, and probably bring in people each week to have a chat about their 'burden'.  I'd keep reminding them of consequences.  It's stupid, and a total waste of a Major's man-hours....but there seems to be people more prone to stupidity now....than what existed in the 1980s.  

Normalphobic?

 I had to look up the phrase today.

So, if you were normalphobic....you had a irrational fear of normal sexed-up folks....folks that only do regular sex with the opposite sex....mostly vanilla in nature of things (you might add stockings, erotic stories, or role-play).

I reviewed the rehab options or treatment for normalphobic people, and there's just not much for medical treatment.  You can't be sent off to some ranch in Texas, or desert resort in Palm Springs.

This is not like BDSMphobia, where you had a irrational fear of bondage or severe discipline.   Nor is it like Claustrophiliaphobia, where you fear having sex in a closet or enclosed area.  Nor is it like interrogationphobia, where you have a irrational fear that 'Wanda' might tie you up and ask questions about your personal life.  

If you sit and ponder about this....realizing it's all about irrational thoughts....then you'd draw the conclusion that just about anything (even brushing your teeth, or washing your hands after using the toilet).....might disturb some folks.  Even if you ate a triple-helping of bacon-and-eggs this morning and farted....some irrational guy might get all disturbed that you cut one (farted) and fartphobia would start up.

My Three General Theories of Life

 1.  The logical processes theory.

I would suggest, via books, school classes, and interaction....we've assembled logical processes to grasp and understand life, chaos and problems....by reducing things to the lowest possible sum, then assembling this into a 'fitted' pattern....where X and Y have to make sense, or make no sense.

The sum of zero and zero.....has to reach zero.  If something doesn't make sense....it's probably not going to be accepted.  There is a wide disparity between facts and non-facts....to the point that you need to keep each in a separate 'bucket'. 

2.  Narratives bring on more narratives, which bring on even more narratives.

Once you have a constructed story, or 'truth'....no matter if it's only 50-percent true....the odds are heavily in favor of more narratives coming....to continue to break you down....where you believe something without much truth to it.

3.  Virtually everything about politics today...is about a brand-name.  Either it sells to the public, or it gets rebranded/discarded.  

Observations

 1.  Future for Bud Light?  Look, it was not a highly desirable beer....I can think of fifty beers with a better taste.  It was simply the beer you were stuck with....at sports arenas or ball fields.  

I think Bud Light will weather the storm, and in 12 months....be removed from the market....with a new beer appearing out of thin air....oddly having the same taste (crappy) and marketed mostly for guys.  A new VP for advertising will arrive, and the whole thing will be forgotten by summer of 2024.

2.  Do people need to filter 'reality'?

Twenty years ago, I would have said 'NO'.  Today, I think about a quarter of the population needs filtered news....filtered music....filtered politics....filtered discussions.  These are people who can't survive in a real world.

3.  Will Joe Biden run?  

I'm firmly convinced....by November....he'll say 'no'.  It's basically Governor Newsom at this point as the lead, and probably only real candidate for the Democratic Party.

4.  NPR leaving Twitter?

What NPR said yesterday was that all this hype of them being gov't-funded (which they are)....is very bad and they've decided enough is enough....they won't publish on Twitter (while still active on Facebook and Instagram).  If you asked me....that probably takes out 40-percent of their readers....just a honest humble guess.  

A big deal?  Most all news organizations in America will not get the little note on their site (via Twitter) that says gov't funded.  If NPR hates that....just quit the marginal amount of money from the gov't and be 'clean'.  They often lay claim that it's very little....so it shouldn't matter.  

5.  I read this yesterday....up in the twin-cities area of Minnesota.....21-million square feet of office space sits.....empty.  Appears to be massive problem in filling the buildings.

Trend Story

 I sat and read a piece today.....coming from a Clever Real Estate survey report.

They say (you have to wonder how truthful it is)....their polling numbers say around 39% of Americans have skipped dinner or meals....to over their home payment. 

Yeah, basically one out of three folks....don't have the cash to pay for dinner.

My wife is a 5-star penny pincher (it hurts to admit that).  If you said we have x-amount of cash for the month....she'd design some menu to cover the month....find the right items on sale, and could survive off $100 a month (each). 

It means we'd be make a fair amount of rice, soup, and eating chicken a good bit.  

What I see out of this trend business....a lot of these people have zero talent at buying groceries....designing a menu plan for a month, or avoiding eating out.

You could see this already in the 1990s.  A whole class of people who grew up....left home, and just accidentally walk around with no clear path or plan.

A Mystery?

 Just worth asking....another mystery like the Incas, Egyptian pyramids, or UFOs?

'Joefluencers'?

 It's a page six story which might be discussed much.

The White House has reached a point where they feel the success stories of President Biden aren't working.  So they are bringing in some influencer (Instagram-TikTok) folks and working up an idea to 'hire' in some way....influencers to sell Joe Biden.

Couple of years ago, for a brief period of six months...I was on Instagram...more or less testing the platform.  My impression?  A significant part of the system revolves around influencers.  

My description of them?  They are out to sell you a brand, a vacation, fitness training, new trendy things, attire and fashion, cooking tips, mental change, etc.  At some point, I observed a influencer 'selling'  meditation, and spiritual awareness. 

Most of what you see on Instagram is adult influence....while on TikTok, I would imagine the bulk of viewers are under the age of twenty (a lot are probably in the 10 to 15 age group).

So you imagine this group of a dozen influencers brought into the White House.  Traditionally there just aren't that many influencers 'selling' people on politics.

The chief problem comes up....the White House folks themselves....who I would deem as master-influencers....have to admit to the Instagram/TikTok influencers....they can't sell Joe Biden's success story.  Logically, the outsider influencers have to stand there and ask the question....if you can't sell it....how can I sell it?

Eventually, I think five or six of the better influencers will take on this task, and market themselves as 'Joefluencers' (my title for their work). 

These episodes will revolve 30 second to 3-minute success stories of the gov't....how they saved people, or saved landscape.  It won't matter if they are half-true or fairly false....they simply want to convince you of something.  

Propagandists?  Well...yeah, but this is the modern era and it's pretty normal already.

All of this....gearing things up for 2024's election and Joe Biden participating?  Yeah, I'd say this is the only method to pursue....if you wanted to market Joe Biden for the 2024 election.  

Those Catholic Terrorists

 I tried to make sense of this story that came out over the weekend....the House is demanding the FBI leadership show up and explain this plan they had....to infiltrate a Catholic Church and gather intelligence on domestic terrorism.  

This comes from a document that was 'floated' over to  the House: “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”

In simple terms....at least one operation was being carried out, and no one is sure how far this goes.

I sat and pondered over this. 

You'd have secret undercover agent 'Joe' who would move into an area....set himself up with a fake ID....join a church group, and act radicalized.....to get members of the church who might be 'fringe-like'.....and bring him into the inner circle.

Extremists within the Catholic Church?  Extremists within the Baptist Church?  Extremists within the Scientology Church?  Extremists  within the Jewish or Buddhist groups?

I would probably start to ask if you have too many agents.  

Why can't you put them into university settings, or within banks, or within CNN, or within the Republican Party?  

The House now likely to tear up this guy who authorized this?  I would imagine he's looking around for a retirement option or maybe some Twitter job....so he can leave in a hurry.

My advice?  If you are attending a church, and suddenly some new gal or guy shows up, and they seem fake-interested in making a friendship with you....you'd best go over their past history.  If they just moved into the community in the past month....ask for references and dig into the background.  If nothing makes sense....they probably are FBI.  

Something about this whole thing seems 1930ish to me.  

Observations

 1.  After reading over the Biden-report of the screw-up in leaving Afghanistan....I've come to the conclusion that whoever wrote this report....had no say in the Biden plan to leave.  It's like a whole separate crew who were dragged in...told to write a Biden-friendly-Trump-unfriendly report....truth be damned and forbiddened.

2.  Hundreds of management-level jobs with McDonalds are to be ended.  We aren't talking about five or six guys fired/laid-off....these are positions which will not be filled, and management decisions will be made by a single guy instead of a dozen guys in one level unit.  

I hate to admit it....but it probably should have been done already back in 2000.

3.  There's some weird California draft bill shuffling around....where your missing person's report (handled by the police) would only include children, and black women.  

If you were Hispanic, Asian, or white.....missing?  Well....the cops wouldn't look for you (if this passed).  If you identified as black but were white?  Then they'd put you on the report and look for you.

4.  Some kind of chatter started up that Marvel and DC characters....might accidentally bump into each other in some future movie....meaning that Batman might encounter Natasha Romanoff.  

On fantasy relationships....it is  five-star deal.  

Cavemen Chatter

 Almost every week now....I see a commentary on social media....suggesting that to solve all climate change issues....we need to revert to cavemen-style living.  I've spent some pondering over this and observed ten things:

1.  The first year of this cavemen-living will be awful rough on folks because of the lack of coffee and cigarettes'.

2.  To have an adequate amount of fur attire (for regular days and rainy periods)....we need a 13,000 percent increase in deer/fox/rabbits/bears.  

3.  Some fights will beak out over people who get better caves than other folks.

4.  I see some women who probably will run off with other guys because because caves were pretty messy.

5.  The lack of booze will be brought up by the 3rd day.

6.  Right off the bat....bunch of guys will start talking about septic tanks and toilets....ramping up evolution, leaving the cavemen business behind.

7.  Some groups will bring up the use of firewood being consumed....as wrong.

8.  After about four nights in the cave situation....most will admit their dedication to climate-change BS....wasn't that high to start with.

9.  People in France will hype up that their cavemen style is more pleasing....than everyone else.

10.  Some folks will bring up (rather quickly) that they weren't aware that zero-underwear was part of the cavemen agenda.  

Air Force Story

 With serious recruitment issues.....the Air Force stood up this past week and wrote a new rule....saying new recruits could have a "higher body fat percentage as men can join with up to 26 percent body fat, a 6 point increase, and women can join with 36 percent body fat, an 8 percent increase." 

They believe with the rule....things will change, and a few hefty guys/gals....will be charmed.

For the majority of my years in the Air Force....the body fat thing didn't exist.  Then one day....it arrived.  In my unit at the time....out of 120-odd people....I'd say 25-percent had a problem in meeting the body-fat-related-to-age standard.

You could actually weigh ten to fifteen pounds under your max and fail the body-fat standard invented.  

So you were continually under some stress situation....you had to monitor your weight and body fat.  

Trying to relate the loss of eight pounds to one inch of body fat loss?  It wasn't possible.  I worked with some gal who'd lost sixteen pounds of weight, and failed to take off a single inch of body fat.  Her reaction?  She gave up....when the enlistment ended, she walked out.

In one office, we had a 24-year old guy who was the sports 'junkie' of the squadron....participating in 12 different sports.  He jogged two miles every single morning prior to work.  He was around ten pounds under his max, when the body-fat game arrived.  Over the course of one-year....he was continually dragged in and threatened with disciplinary action over his body-fat numbers not improving.  He was another case where the exit-door was used.  

So I look at the current trap laid....if you allow in the people now....how quick will you change the rules and bring body-fat standards back to a harsh reality?

Real Estate Story

I sat and viewed this commentary on social media this AM.  Basically, some real estate gal in Tennessee....noting that she got a message from a prospective buyer that Tennessee values were not what they were seeking after the last week of hot political chatter.

So I sat and pondered upon this.

First, Tennessee residents (the ones who grew up there) don't give a damn if you move there or not.  They will say it bluntly to your face....either before they start drinking or after they've had four beers.  

Second, in regards to picking where you live....there probably are over two-hundred 'values' at work now, and 'lawmakers of color being expelled' might not even make it into the two-hundred group.  You might want to remind yourself of the tornado statistical average for Tennessee, the average number of copperheads per square mile, and the fact that yes....they do have nuclear power units in the state (if this was a hot priority to avoid such doom.....you might not want to live in the state).

Third, by disqualifying Tennessee....and the state you were apparently leaving (California or NY state)....you only have 47 states left (I should assume Alaska and Hawaii are both no-go places).  It appears that no one exits California....to move into Michigan, NY state, Illinois, or NJ.  

Fourth, the kind of people who get drawn into this type of chaos and propaganda....probably aren't the type of people you'd want as residents of your state anyway.  

In a way, it's become a reality TV show, with side-doors opening....characters walking across the stage (like VP Harris) and then exiting side-door on the other side of the stage.  You might applaud, but then you wonder....what is the real subject of the opera show you just watched. 

Can House Representation Occur Without Drawing Lines and Using Gerrymandering In Some Way?

 NO.

I sat and read through some blunt comments yesterday of an individual who wants absolute gerrymandering gone....that it's unfair and discriminants against the public.  

Once we established that 435 members is the limit, that the Census would give us the right balance, and then handed it to each state to manage....the ONLY outcome is using data and gerrymandering.  Both parties do it.

If you wanted to toss Gerrymandering?  Well...about the only two methods left is: (1) just have one big massive vote in the state to allow party percentages to occur and allow the parties to fill the seats (like the German method) or (2) dictate no lines and mandate that you have to use already existing country lines.  No one seems to respect the county line idea because there's some element of unfairness there as well.

Under the German method....it does not matter if 16 states exist or that you have 401 counties/districts.  You have one election....nationally, there is a split of party votes, and then you tell X-party they get 40 seats, and Y-party that they get 130 seats (remember there are usually six parties to get seats).  

Why all this unfairness about gerrymandering?  It's been around for over 200 years and you can make the case since the early 1900s....it's been data-driven.  The funny thing here, is that people with agendas....typically fail to mention that in their highly urbanized city (Chicago for example)....the districts in the city for city council.....are gerrymandered as well.  Portland is about the only US city in existence which avoids districts in the typical fashion.

A lot of hype over nothing?  I get that impression. It's like trying to make a Long Island Ice Tea, without any booze and be happy over the taste.  

This Dylan Mulvaney-Bud Light Episode

 Four observations:

1.  Frankly, I've never tried Bud Light in my life....while admitting I've probably tasted over 200 European beers, and around eight US/Mexican beers.  I'm pretty partial to German beers.....so this Bud hype is a mystery to me.

2.  Dylan Mulvaney a bit bizarre?  On my scale of one-to-ten.....I'd rate the character near '8'.  Perhaps not Alabama-crazy, but I'm not likely to sit next to the person on a flight.

3.  Did Bud management screw up?  For some reason, they felt there was a 'gain' in the mix.  I fail to see it. If they lost 10-percent of the balance?  It's not the end of the world, but if they were losing 20-percent on a permanent basis....yeah, it's a big deal.

4.  Finally, all of this occurred via Twitter for the most part.  It's curious how the the story just rumbled around for a week and was picked up.  

Good Quote To Remember

 

Harris Speech

“A democracy says you don’t silence the people, you do not stifle the people, you don’t turn off their microphones when they are speaking…That is not what a democracy does.”

-- VP Harris at a Tennessee University last night

Yeah, it is a bit difficult to grasp what she meant, and how she meant it.

She did try to voice it in a MLK-manner, which is not that typical for her, and it was probably not a wise manner to conduct the speech.

All of this referring to the three individuals in the Tenn state-house who were in the bad-boy/girl situation?  Yeah.

The problem for the Democratic Party at present....President Biden go and speak like Clinton or Obama, and if he did show up....hecklers would make the event into a circus.  So you are left with Harris.

Deception By Numbers

 I noticed this 'slide' brought around on social media today.....to lay out murders....mostly in southern states.

It's a deceptive 'slide'.

From Mississippi, if you deducted Jackson, Cleveland, and Pascagoula....the murder rate for the state would drop by 50-percent.

From Louisiana, if you dropped New Orleans, and Alexandria....the murder rate for the state would drop by half.

For Alabama, if you simply dropped Birmingham....around half of the state's murders would drop.

Tennessee?  If you dropped Chattooga, Memphis, Knoxville and Nashville....around half the state murder count would drop.

It's a BS statistic....trying to bundle states in this case of murder.  Where you have virtually no poverty.....you have virtually no murders.  

What are Boogaloo People?

 Well....these are people who 'IDENTIFY' as (notice how I worded this) a fairly loosely gathered group of far-right antigovernmental extremists.

They seem to chat a bit on inciting or creating a 2nd Civil War.  They have a tendency to always be pro-gun, leaning toward pro-white topics, shuffling around on neo-Nazi topics, and at times condemning racism/white supremacy.  

The odds of FBI infiltration?  I'd say it's 100-percent possible, and there might be more than a hundred FBI guys who are fake-boogaloo types (my humble belief).

Where the term originates?  Back in 1984....a movie came out called 'Breakin II: Electric Boogaloo'.  This was an American 'dance-musical' which centered mostly around a script where the local community center was supposed to be torn down.....and locals set off to oppose this.  They spent around $3-million on the movie, and via critics....it was mostly given a dismal review.

How this movie translates to the movement?  You'd have to be looped-up on drugs and booze....to figure some connection.  My gut feeling is that some FBI folks wrote up a white-paper on how to create a crazy movement, and just for the hell of it....put one together....just in time for the internet to carry it nation-wide.

If someone were to chat over them and try to convince you to come to some meeting?  I'd decline and limit this person who tried to entice me to marginal friendship (they probably are FBI-related in some way).  

Draft Bill

 There's a Alabama draft bill circulating around now....mandating a high school class be taught on finance.  Topics?

- The types of bank accounts available and how to open and manage their own account

= How to balance a checking account

= How to manage credit cards and debt

- How to evaluate different types of loans

- The types of insurance policies

- How taxes work

= How to calculate interest rates

= Types of contracts

= Types of saving and investment tools

Odds of passing?  Unknown.

Necessity?  If you went to most 18-year old kids....they have no idea how local, state and federal taxes work.  If you asked even 25-year olds.....on loans....they'd have little to no knowledge.

I'd even include a 30-minute session on college degree debt and the true value of a degree versus debt obligation.  

The Phrase 'I Identify As'?

 I just seem to see a lot of chatter that starts off 'I identify as', rather than saying 'I'm such-and-such'.  It's just an odd speech pattern....like some 3rd grade kid trying to get an intellectual point across to his teacher.

Could you revert or revolve around sixteen different identities?  It's possible.  There's no real rules to this game.

Could you just show up at some school....claiming to identify as 12 years old (while really 44 years old)?  You could try.....so far....no one has done that successfully.

Could just having a mental illness....be an identity?  Well....yeah, you could make that case.  Mental illness is 'hip' these days, if you haven't paid attention.

Could mental illness prevent you from identifying as something?  That's possible as well.

If twelve people support you in this 'I-identify-as' situation, an twelve people go against your 'I-identify-as' situation....are you in a make-or-break situation?

If you chose to identify as a woman (while a guy), and folks told you that you were the ugliest woman on Earth....would that invalidate your 'I-identify-as' situation?  

If I have no desire to know you...doesn't this end the 'I-identify-as' situation between you and me?

The whole discussion almost seems designed like some Bible enthusiast hyping up Revelations, and getting the bulk of people confused to the ninth degree. 

Five Observations

 1.  It's just weird....normal regular women....are drawn to political antics that essentially replace them with men.  And there's no booze, drugs, or religion involved.  

2.  I would imagine....at least once a day now....I hear the term 'Constitutional crisis'.  I'm not sure if people grasp the meaning or the serious nature of suggesting this.

3.  I watched some discussion between Jon Stewart and the Defense Secretary....centered on why military people are paid such a minor sum of money, and require food stamps.  

Basically, this goes back to a 18 or 19 year old person....who has a dependent.  Basic pay....is meant for a junior enlisted guy/gal to live in the barracks....eat chow-hall food, and NOT be attached to dependents.  

4.  The Nashville shooter manifesto public yet?  No.  

Either it's a thousand-pages long, or it's got some delicate topic that you can't discuss in public.  My bet?  The shooter was having an emotional breakdown over several months, and regressing back to their original state of gender.  

5.  Ford says shortly, it'll just drop AM on their new car radios.  End of the world?  I would imagine 99-percent of people only listen to FM today.

Humble View of the Tennessee Events of the Past Two Weeks

 First, for those who aren't really aware of the political landscape of Tennessee......it's a remarkably conservative state.  Even if you claim Democratic status....there's probably thirty issues where you lean more to the right of the spectrum, than the left.  

I would add....the state is bundled-up and probably has a minimum of three divisions (I'd put Memphis in a region by itself....as well as the Nashville-circle).  

Second, if I were to guess on AR ownership per 100,000 residents (the statistic doesn't exist officially)....I'd say the state ranks near the top three on AR-ownership.  I'd also suggest that from LE folks in the state....it wouldn't shock me if nine out of ten had ownership of a AR rifle.  

Third, on the events at the state-house?  There are a list of rules, expectations and expectations of order.  All fifty states have such rules.  These three characters who violated the rules?  Either they never read the material and just thought no one would dare kick them out.  

Fourth, large crowds showing up to demonstrate?  So far, from the images I've seen (up to Thursday afternoon)....none of the crowds have been over 1,500 people.  For a NCAA basketball championship game....you get ten times that number in Knoxville.  

Fifth, trying to make a black 'event' out of the state-house business?  Maybe, but the last time I checked on Hispanics in the state....they were near 10-percent of the population...compared against 16-percent for Blacks. In another decade?  I would imagine Hispanics will be the number one minority in the state.

Six, all of this chatter, disruption, and theatrics.....going back to a mentally unstable Trans-person?  Yeah, and when you sit in a room of just working class Tennessee people....they simply shake their heads....this has become a reality TV show with a bit of drama attached.

Seventh, this speech given by Justin Jones (one of the those expelled)?  It's an odd speech with an accent that seems more theatrical than actual.  

Eighth, the bull-horn use in the assembly?  Strictly 4th-grade type behavior.  

Ninth, the comment by Justin Pearson (one of the expelled legislative folks) saying that Jesus was crucified for the LGTBQ community?  

For the over-40 black community....that probably triggered them to back away and mute Pearson from this point on.

Final view?  Lets be honest as tens of thousands of Californians left their state, and resettled in Tennessee....they brought different aspects of their life with them.  Tennessee now has to deal with this new reality.  

The 'Fad' Question

 I was reading a social commentary today, and it just stuck to my mind.  Their comment was: "The majority of humans seem mentally retarded. Has this always been the case, or is it newish?"

First, I thought the term 'retarded' was probably wrong.  You could have used 'witless', 'irrational', 'foolish', 'absurd', or 'wacky' instead.

Second, I probably observed this trend around 2000 to 2005, and at that point....it was a couple of junior airmen (Air Force period) who were talking over their medication rates.  They were four 'ladies'.....all in the 19 to 24 year old age group, and on some type of SSRI-type drug (prozac-like).  One was a 'tiny' gal....maybe 100 pounds max, and the AF doctors were prescribing to her....the maximum amount for her weight.  I'll just describe her as unable to fully concentrate, with 50-percent of her work effort mostly in a daze.  All four had some behavior-issue and if you asked me to hand out pistols for defense....I would refuse to hand any of them a weapon.

Third, by 2010, I would have suggested that around 10-percent of society were in some form of irrational behavior.  Some were young....some were in their forties....some were unable to really concentrate or react in a normal way.

Where we stand in 2023?  I would probably suggest in a typical day (from home-to-work-and-back-to-home), you probably encounter five to ten people who are not rational.  It might be in a bar, or at McDonalds, or at work, or just hanging around Wal-Mart.  

I watched a video last week of some 8-year old kid who'd finally had some kind of break-down at Wal-Mart, and fully engaged into whooping up on his mother (public setting).  Don't know if the kid was drugged-up....but it was the type of confrontation that going to endanger someone (either the kid or the woman).

Is it a fad?  I'm not sure about the use of the word, and it fitting for the events.

What bothers me here....what happens in a decade....say 2033?  Would you have to carry a baseball bat with you into Wal-Mart?  Would you have twelve people a day killed in town....because of the irrational physical threat?  Would ministers be suggesting demon-possession as part of the trend?  

Why NPR Can't Give Up Government Funding?

 Well....here's the simple truth.  Their budget each year....from the federal government side....amounts to about half-a-percent to one-percent of their budget.  On this alone....they could give it entirely up.

But here's two odd things which are never discussed.  First, around 2-to-3 percent of the remaining budget comes from state budgets and local city budgets.  If the fed guys left the table, and then a dozen states realized that they could also leave the table....then you'd have two percent minimum missing from the budget.

Second...through various other fund vehicles....state public channels are funded by the federal machine and the states.  

For example, from the state of Tennessee....there are 11 public radio stations.

For example, from the state of Kentucky, there are 12 public radio stations.

NPR does a word game where they make it think that it's really not that much that comes from the federal government.  On these state contributions....it's possible that some or even half of their budget to the local stations....really come from a grant or two....from the federal government.

If the funding was drastically cut?  You'd have people all bothered that their favorite network was cut, but it wouldn't really be the end of the world....because NPR is mostly news, and you get everything from your commercial networks.  It'd be different if NPR was literature, poetry, jazz or classical music (what they started out as, you know).

Ten Things I Wonder About

 1.  From the school shooting in Nashville....I wonder if the police had taken the shooter alive (wounded)....if a murder case could be developed, or if the court system would render the person incompetent and sent off to a mental facility for the remainder of their life?

2.  I wonder, if the Democrats had just starved off the court stuff on Trump....if political donations would have been marginal and downsized his campaign?

3.  I wonder, from each time a serious journalist tries to interview Stormy Daniels....if the audience view immediately revolves around to SEX?

4.  I wonder if Joe Biden could run in 2024, and announce he was 'gender-fluid'.....would it hype his campaign and help for re-election?

Then I wonder....would Joe understand the term 'gender-fluid' or think it has something to do with sex oil?

5.  I wonder if anyone can prove or disprove that a fair amount of PAC money for politicians today....come from overseas?

6.  I wonder if this new time-limit business in professional baseball is going to permanently ruin the game?

7.  I wonder if a majority of people learned their bank was in a 'bad' way....would they rush down to remove their life savings, and trigger a total collapse of the banking sector?

8.  If your neighbor came over and said he was abducted last night by aliens....would you pause and give him an hour of your time, or pretty much feel he was suffering a mental breakdown?

Then I wonder if you asked the neighbor about alien women, and if they had any special features?

9.  I wonder if we mandated mental competency tests to own a gun.....wouldn't you have to mandate the same tests for driver's licenses, credit cards, getting married, and voting?  And then with the failed applicants....who were deemed mentally incompetent....what would you do with them?

10.  I wonder....if we could create a brain-washing technique to convince everyone to become Klingon warriors....would they all rush out to get plastic surgery, and buy up $1,500 Klingon swords?