Travel

 I sat down the last month and looked over my travels (I turn 65 shortly).

At last count, I've been to 36 states and the District of Columbia.  I will admit in the case of New Hampshire....I crossed the border, had lunch, and left the state after two hours.  

On selling itself?  California had just about everything, and over the past twenty years....screwed up literally everything.

For countries?  At least count, 31.  I didn't count that Air Force flight into Israel where we weren't supposed to leave the ramp area, and take-off was in 90 minutes.  

Exotic places?  Maybe you can count Iceland in that category.  You go mostly to look at glaciers, volcanic areas, hot springs, etc.  

Crappy places?  That 12-hour 'tour' into Kosovo probably fits into that category.  

Places oversold/over-valued?  New Zealand.

Places that you probably just want to spend six weeks driving around?  Ireland.

That 3-day stop-over  in Dubai?  Honestly, the 'mall' is the selling point. There's a shop near the entry where they sell bags of popcorn that have at least three whole sticks of butter melted into the medium-sized bag.

The place where you felt ultra-ultra-safe?  Singapore.

The country where you continually looked over your shoulder?  South Africa.

The country where you are likely to gain one pound of weight for each day you spend there?  Italy.

1860 Election: Was Lincoln On All State Ballots?

 NO.

This is an odd fact about the 1860 election.  Lincoln was not listed on 10 state ballots (Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida).

John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party (the alternate-path Whig Party) was the guy listed in the ten states in question.  In several cases, Bell came close to a state win (Georgia for example, he had almost 42-percent of the vote).

So in the end, Lincoln had collected enough Electoral votes because of the four-party election.  

I should add...in the case of New York and New Jersey.....they only allowed Lincoln on the ballot, leaving off the three other candidates. 

Probably worth bringing up that South Carolina decided not to hold a Presidential election, and used the state legislative process....letting them assign the eight electors to Breckenridge (the Southern Democratic Party).  All the way from the 1700s...to this point....elections were avoided.  1868?  The state went to the election process to determine the Electoral College situation.

So if you were wondering....could Trump be denied on the ballot of ten states....could he still win?  Well....history says 'yes'.  I might go as far to suggest twenty states could be denied and he could still win the Electoral College.  Shocker?  Oh, I would imagine thousands of journalists have never reviewed the 1860 election or its consequences.  

The final question....if a Trump win occurred with only thirty states listing him on the ballot?  Yeah, it'd be the path for some 1860 dissolving of society....Civil 'Woke' War.  

Fifteen Observations/Lessons Out Of Travel

 1.  Long 14-day trips drain you (I'd put it at a 90-percent odds).  Maybe it's what you need from a boring job, or being burnt-out.  But I'd typically suggest no more than seven days.  Also note, you probably don't want 14-days of just plain beach-resort laying around.  

2.  If going outside the US, do your menu research and have at least four food items which won't be a problem to order at some restaurant.  Note, both fish and lamb is pretty popular in 50-percent of the world.  For example, 95-percent of what you get served in Greece....has garlic in it.  

3.  Bus tours beyond the US....tend to be on the 'go' from 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM.  These may not fit your expectations.

4.  Have a tote-bag for walking tours or day-long events, and stow a 1-liter bottle of water there, with at least two snacks (avoid chocolate...it melts).  Hotels usually don't want you taking their breakfast chow out of the dining room.  Look for a fruit stand near the hotel.

5.  Public toilets are probably not going to be up to your expectations in 90-percent of the world.

6.  If going to a non-English country....have some some booklet with 300-odd phrases on you.  Knowing the expression for the WC (the toilet) is important.

7.  When the bus-guide says to gather to leave at 2:00 PM....they aren't BSing you.  Have some idea of where your end-point for the day or hotel is located, and have sufficient cash to reach that point (on your own).

8. Going to exotic European beach location?  Don't be utterly shocked if topless ladies or totally nude folks end up on the beach.  If you got some problem...you should have signed up for Florida or Texas beaches.  Also, don't be utterly shocked if the nude/topless scene is out-of-shape 50-year old guy/gal.  

9.  Electrical plugs differ from country to country.  Buy some universal package (probably in the $25 range) and carry it in your bag to service your phone/tab/camera.

10.  Sometimes, the most rural and less-traveled spots in the world....are more interesting than Paris, Amsterdam or Rome.  

11.  My general advice on eating....try to eat hearty at breakfast (at the hotel), have a light snack for mid-afternoon, and go for a hearty dinner at night.  Lot of countries tend to eat at 7 to 9 PM, which might be difficult for Americans to adjust to.

12.  Dress for the weather.  If it is extremely hot....opt for shorts and a t-shirt.  

13.  Subways are amazing for inner-city travel.  They are also a magnet for pick-pocket thieves.  

14.  The ultimate plus-up on travel is business travel tickets (the extra big seats).  However, I tend to see the real value in that you get entry into the business lounges at various airports.  So if you fly from A to B, then connect to C, and finally arrive at D (your final destination).....you had three entry points for business lounges, where food and drink are free.  If you have to waste an hour at A, then 90 minutes at B, and 200 minutes C....this lounge business might be a super positive.

15.  Hotels in exotic places make a ton of money off their bar situation.  If you need a drink or two at night...step out and walk a block or two to some pub....to pay half the cost of drinks.  Also note, for breakfast, water (of a decent drinking nature) is typically free....so hydrate there as much as possible.

The Thing About The Mental Disorders Discussion

I sat and tried to read over this article piece, stopped, and just stood there pondering.

First, this poll/study drills down into mostly white folks....not Hispanic or black.

Second, it does divide up folks into young and old.....conservative and liberal.  I have to trust that they asked enough questions to put people on the right listing.

What the numbers mostly say lead to three 'facts' (may be totally true....maybe only half-true):

1.  Young white liberals have a 46-percent chance of having some kind of mental condition.  They don't really spill the beans on what this might be (I might ask more questions what you mean by a mental condition).

2.  Young white female liberals....have a 56-percent chance of having a mental disorder.  Again, they just don't tell you the type of disorder.  They don't ask if they are heavily medicated, boozed-up half the time, or just hanging around whacked-out friends.

3.  Young white conservatives only have a 21-percent of some mental condition.  So you wander into some group like this....probably a church group or bowling 'gang', and feel pretty safe that they weren't nutcases.  

In the late 1970s....after I had wandered off the farm and gone to the Air Force....I had already been inoculated on crazy folks (being from Alabama, you probably bumped into at least one clearly crazed person every week).  So it didn't really bother me with the crazies that I met in the Air Force.  

As the years rolled by, I came to note that there were more and more of these mental disorder folks that you'd bump into. 

In the past six months, I bumped into an American with the bridge-crossing disorder.  For her, no problem in crossing a bridge that was forty-feet from the ground or stream.  But then you come to German bridges that are 300 ft from the ground?  NO....she has to design trips in some fashion where she would never cross such a bridge.  Yeah, it's a mental disorder but not likely to be one that you'd rank as critical.

I've also bumped into a German gal who has the 'wind on the neck' disorder.  This means she can't possibly sit in a out-door restaurant/cafe because the potential wind to hit her neck would create a perceived health problem (she has to always sit indoors).  

Now I should say this about the two women....they are both liberals.  It probably wouldn't take you more than 15 minutes of conversation to have the 'hints' laid out and you just sit and grin....avoiding conversation as much as possible.  They are nice people....just on the fringe of life, and having to deal with significant mental disorders.

So I don't doubt this number business.  My question....has this always been around and we've just become more open to people having mental issues/disorders?  

The 42 Year Old Story

 I noticed this past week....the Air Force raised maximum enlistment age to 42 (officers and enlisted).

I pondered upon this.

Up to age 41 years and 364 days, you can walk into a recruitment center and sign up now.   

Handling basic?  If you went out to the general public (male and female) and asked a 39-year old about their physical shape (to handle basic training)....I'd say fewer than 10-percent are in that type of physical shape.  

What older guy (or gal) would walk in and enlist at age 38 or 40?  Maybe if you were seriously unemployed (ex-teacher burned out,  for example)....it'd make sense.  

The chief issue I'd see....you'd be in four years....an E-5 (Staff Sergeant).  On life experience, you'd probably start to seriously question both officers and enlisted above you.  

As for numbers of people jumping in?  I'm guessing there might be a hundred folks a year who fit into this older enlistment deal.  

Statue Chatter

 

I'll just make a honest prediction....whatever this melted statue is made into....stands on public grounds for less than one year before it is 'kidnapped' and shows up as a melted slab.  

Then it'll be remelted,  and repoured....only to be kidnapped over and over, and melted down.  

Ten Random Thoughts

 1.  I think more than half of American adults....have a serious mental, alcohol, or drug addiction issue brewing.  Adding to this thought....I don't think they (the 50-percent) can make rational or clever decisions.  

2.  I suspect if you asked a hundred people to define 'genocide'.....more than quarter of them would say it's some commercial form of herbicide used to control weeds.

3.  If CNN decided to hype-up some agenda to bring back the dinosaurs....I suspect they'd have a collection of three-hundred 'experts' ready to come and crap-talk over the subject for an hour.

4.  I'm predicting by the end of 2024, a voice synthesizer will be developed and some comedian will develop an entire act around a Donald Duck voice.

5.  I'll predict by 2030....California has rationalized an agenda allowing 14-year old kids to marry, without parent or judge's consent.  

6.  Maybe it's just me....but just about 90-percent of all movies being delivered in 2022/2023....are crap and I wouldn't pay even $3 for a ticket.

7.  Number of illegals who've entered the US since day one of the Biden presidency....would now make enough of a population to fill the state of Arizona's entire population.  

8.  Some random nutcase will at least attempt to assassinate candidate RFK Jr before November of 2024, and will remark after the attempt that they don't remember anything of the act or why they attempted this.

9.  AI-created music will be used by the end of 2024, to create the Hank Williams voice of the 1950s, and the tune will move quickly up the charts to number one.

10.  A 3-some lawsuit will occur in 2024, where they want a recognized 3-way marriage in California, and one of the three is a 15-year old gay kid.  The court (after a year of debate) will agree that the state can't really control marriage or marriage-ages.  Shortly after that.....5-person marriages will become common.  Reality TV will feature this as a popular entertainment feature, with most 5-person marriages failing within a year because of cheating outside the 5-person group.  

How I Paid For 2 x Bachelor Degrees/3 Associate Degrees Via The Air Force

 Starting in early 1980, at the 2-year point of service....I signed up and accomplished ten classes in one year....with the AF paying 75-percent of tuition.  

Moving to another base (Louisiana) in summer of 1981....I went on to do 15 courses, with them paying 75-percent of the tuition.

At this same time period, someone sat down and explained CLEP/Dantes tests....so I signed up for one test every two weeks over a 1-year period.  I passed a dozen of these....adding up to something like 40 total SH/credits (roughly one year of college)....free of charge.  The AF paid for the tests.

Finally, transferring to Germany, I signed up for dozen classes over a two-year period.  The AF at this point....decided to up the tuition coverage....90-percent.  

So I went back to the three colleges (one being a community college) and the Air Force Community....getting the credits sorted out.  

Total expenditure on my part?  I would guess with books included?  $7,500.  

The deal today via the Air Force?  Well....$4,500 a year max, and a max of $250 per Semester Hour to be paid out ($750 per class).  Yeah, for a full blown college class, it's six classes a year max.  You would do better only taking community college classes, with their current deal (cheaper rate).  

My Theory of Bizarro

 In the Superman comics (I've a hardcore comics fan)....there is this imaginary world....cube-shaped (not round) called Htrae (you notice, it's Earth spelled backwards).  

On this world, things are run by something called the Bizarro Code....which more or less states it is a crime of some sort do anything clever, ethical, legal, bright, or correct, and you can't conduct affairs in the right fashion.

They invented Bizarro world in 1960 and it was an odd script to bring to comic fans.  Whatever you imagined on real Earth....was opposite in Bizarro world.  

During the Seinfeld TV series.....they did an episode based on this, where Jerry's world was introduced to the Bizarro characters.

Over the past two or three years (since Covid started), I've had this feeling that things now on Earth....no matter if you are talking NFL football, politics, music, love of the classics, religion, or reality....it's running along in a Bizarro fashion.  

Joe Biden, CNN, WaPo, climate people, propaganda, news, social media.....all line up to be Bizarro in some fashion now.

So the question I have....did the alien guys (the ones in the UFOs or UAPs) read up on Bizarro comic legend, and just figure.....lets go fu*k with Earthlings and brain-wash them enough....to make them Bizarro?  That's the only logical explanation I have for the mess present in society.  

Five Things

 1.  DeSantis more or less finished for 2024?  Yeah.  Even if Trump passed on tomorrow.....I doubt that one Republican out of four would vote for DeSantis.

2.  Yeah, stories are starting up in Israel by Americans, who got stranded there after the war started.  Embassy?  No plan, and no leadership.  You would think that some idiot out of DC....would write a 10-page plan, and have State Department folks practice it once a year.

3.  Can kids/juveniles handle TikTok/Meta/Twitter/YouTube?  

I seriously doubt it.  Even if you are 30 years old...I'm of the mind that half the users out there can't  handle it.

4.  White House starting 'safe-space' sessions (listening time) for pro-Arab/pro-Palestine support team? 

Oddly, yeah.  Apparently, they can't handle reality.

5.  FDA says they will review a 'mist' product to prevent Flu.  Yeah, the idea is that you'd be approved (if 18) to buy and administer it yourself.  Pretty radical, if they approve this in the end.

This War 'Game'

 First, it's an enormous amount of assets being moved around by US/NATO.  So it's not a joke.

Second, whatever Iran talked up with Hamas and Hizballah....probably involved some kind of promise of support, and the generals of Iran who sat at the table....calculated that it would not come to touch them.  Maybe they told the religious 'bosses' this, but I seriously doubt it.

Third, help from Russia is marginal to zero for Iran.  All that wasted assets for the Ukraine war, you know.

Fourth, I would imagine from the US and Europe....there has to be at least a couple hundred Jihad guys roaming around and part of some threat.

Fifth, anyone figuring that Egypt, Jordan or Syria has any interest in this mess.....is pulling your leg.  They will just quietly sit there and view the actions going on.

Sixth, it's just odd.....China fired their chief general in the past week.  Maybe nothing much, but it's odd on timing.

Seventh, if I were targeting crap in Iran?  I'd target oil refinery operations, military depots, runways, and TV studios.  Just for the hell of it...I might target the modesty police headquarters around Tehran.  To be honest, I think more than half the nation would like to see the national gov't of Iran to fall.  

Eighth and final, this is mostly all about inciting people in the region to be anti-US/anti-NATO/anti-Israel....for the decades to come.  The mere fact that you have Jews in the US, who are already anti-Israel over the action....says a lot over propaganda of the past decade.  

Blah-Blah-Blah Story

 I had to watch some BS video off Twitter (X) today......blond gal, recent graduate of college, weeping away about her 9 AM to 5 PM schedule.  No life, no social situations, no friend time, blah-blah-blah.

I realize that she's probably never had real responsibility in her life, and this work-crap is a terrible pain-in-the-ass.  But lets be reasonable.....she signed for the long-run.....so from age 21 to age 65....44 years, it's going to be this way.

I get the impression that she never thought much about what the parents were doing, or what would come after college.

In need of rehab?  Yeah, I'd suggest it....but she would have to invest more time out of her schedule for it.

Crazy Kids

 For about six months, I've been randomly reviewing some videos (mostly from news organizations) of teachers who've quit.  I would guess I'm up to about sixty of these that I've watched.

The story mostly goes this way.....teacher 'Joe' has done this stuff for 20 years....each year it gets rougher with ten-percent of the kids in some wild threatening mentality (to the classmates and the teacher)....teacher finally having enough and just quitting.  On the backside of this....the school board then reflects on the problem of recruiting new teachers, but admitting there's no problem because the university system is pumping out teachers left and right.

Cops now getting involved?  Well....you notice that from time to time....that cops are getting some call to pick up 'Woody' (the 13-year old nutcase) and parents have to come down to some station to pick up the kid....getting all  hyped-up that he was removed from school (mostly blaming the school director or some teacher).

Freak show?  Well.....yeah.  It's like you paid some traveling circus to bring out the 'wild-man' from Borneo (the 13-year old nutcase), and he (or she) gives you a pretty good case for putting them into some mental ward for juveniles.  

The chief problem you see after enough of these....the 90-percent of kids in the school were supposed to be learning from this 7-hour day...but they fell behind because they were captivated by the 'wild-man' from Borneo act.  You get two or three of those a day,  and after a while....you marginally advance in learning because of the 'show' you watch at school.

The only way out of this?  Remove the school barrier and just have prosecutors/judges/LE lined up to handle the crazy kids.  If they need to be taken to some juvenile center for filling sandbags, or haul hay for 12 hours a day....so be it.

The odd end of this whole mess?  The 'wild-man' from Borneo will be sitting there at age 40, with the intelligence level of a 5th-grader....flipping burgers, and wondering where he screwed up.

1860 Election In Oregon

 The 1860 Presidential election had three parties in the running, for Oregon.....Republican (Lincoln), Democrat (Douglas), and Southern Democrat (Breckinridge).

There were roughly 15,000 votes across the state in this election.

Lincoln won....marginally by 250 votes (getting 5,344 votes).  Breckinridge came in second with 5.074.  So it was fairly close.

County-wise?  Lincoln took most of the coastal counties and more populated regions of the state.  Breckinridge took most of the eastern part of the state and SW section.  

The Constitutional Union Party did make an effort in running but barely took 250-odd votes.

So as 1864 came around?  Lincoln won with 53-percent of the vote (roughly 3,000 more people voting in 1864 than in 1860).

Lincoln's prime areas?  NW and SW parts of the state.  Democratic strength was in the central and eastern areas of the state.  

The President Douglas/1860 Election Win Scenario

 As the summer convention business heated up for the Democratic Party....it came to a point where no candidate could emerge out of the first convention.  Stephen Douglas, who had things lined up....failed.

A second convention was held roughly a month later, and Douglas secured the 'win', but out of this convention....a number of southern Democrats left and gathered at a near-by hotel, and decided to form a new party (the Southern Democratic Party).

This created a problem in the various states for the 1860 November election, and Douglas lost in a miserable way (division of votes).

But lets go back to the 2nd convention and say it failed, and no party division occurred.  

Douglass would have likely won the election....defeating Lincoln.

So here's the odd part of history.....Douglass would have arrived in DC, and become President, but likely met an untimely end (3 June 1861).  Typhoid Fever got him in the end.  

VP?  Herschel Johnson, former governor of Georgia.  He would have moved up and likely been the Democratic candidate in 1864's election....likely winning it and serving out to 1869.  

The 1860 Election In Tennessee

 Part of a series I'm doing....looking back at a history that we rarely discuss.

For the record, Tennessee was one of those states that didn't allow Lincoln on the ballot.

So there were three candidates: Breckenridge (Southern Democratic Party, the break-a-way group from the Democratic Party, Douglas (Democratic Party), and Bell (former Whig-Party-evolved into the Constitutional Union Party).  

Winner of the 1860 Tennessee vote?  John Bell won with 47-percent of the vote.  2nd place went to Breckinridge with 45-percent of the vote.  Douglas  took a dismal 7-percent.

There's only ONE single county in the state (far western region) where Douglass won the county vote.  

It's mostly a 50-50 situation on remaining counties between Bell and Breckinridge.  The strongest areas for Bell?  Along the North Carolina border.  

146,000 men showed up and voted in this election.

What happened in 1864?  Tennessee was not part of the Confederacy and was allowed to vote in the 1864 election. Candidates?  Lincoln and McClellan (the former general, who ran as a Democrat).  

Here's the odd part of the 1864 election....most ballot boxes around the state were destroyed by Confederates in the state.  What is generally believed....Lincoln had around 30,000 votes, while McClellan took 5,000.  This number?  Well....it's mostly created out of thin air by the Chicago Tribune newspaper.....so in a factual way, nothing about the results in the state for 1864 is believed.  I would add....the round-number business makes this also a bit of a joke. 

Yeah, pretty comical but that's history for you.  

My Idea

 The Biden Administration is telling banks....when new migrants show up and ask for loans.....the banks need to approve these (with minimum questions).

I sat and pondered over this.

So here is my plan.  I intend to dress up in ragged clothing.....getting a Mexican straw hat, and show up near the Texas-Mexico border (note, stay on the Texas side).  I will adapt a Peruvian name....Alejandro. I'll memorize forty phrases....most making little to no sense.  I'll act delightfully stupid and intellectually limited.  

The Border Patrol guys will give me some slip of paper....noting my name of Alejandro.  

Then I will get transported to NY City, and quietly walk into a NY bank....asking for a $20,000 loan.

Once I have the $20,000 in my hand....I'll take a cab to JFK Airport and fly home....thus disappearing.

A week will pass, and I will put on my Peruvian outfit once again....go to the Texas border, and rename myself as Carlos.  Same path.....this time maybe getting to Chicago, and getting $20,000 from a Chicago bank.

I'll repeat this for a year....making a grand total of $1.04-million.  I'll burn the Peruvian suit and fake IDs, and just quietly live out my life as the 'fake-Peruvian-American'.  

I think it'd make a great movie script, but I'd want Nicolas Cage to play me.  

1860 Election in Alabama

 I went back this past week and looked over the 1860 national election....in my home-state (Alabama).  It's an interesting 'twist'.

So fact 1:  Lincoln didn't get on the voting roll.  What you did get was Constitutional Union Party (the remains of the Whig Party), who ran a campaign for John Bell.  Oddly enough....in five counties (in the far south of the state....Bell won over the other two competitors (Breckinridge from the Southern Democrat Party and Douglas from the Democratic Party).

Fact 2: Douglas (Democratic Party) mostly wins in 4 counties in the far north of the state (including my county of Lauderdale).

Fact 3: Breckinridge takes 54-percent of the total state vote (entire state vote for the 3 candidates....just over 90,000).

Fact 4: Oddly enough, Greene County (deep into the cotton belt on the western part of the state, and with a low population of whites (to slaves)....votes primarily for the Constitutional Union Party (John Bell).  I doubt if anyone has ever sat down to analyze the voting in this one county and how odd it is to have a right-of-center party carry the county.

Fact 5: If you review the entire state for votes....the Constitutional Union guy took 31-percent of the votes.  Almost one out of three....didn't vote for the Democrat or the Southern Democratic Party candidate.  

It would be eight years after this point before Alabama would have a 'vote' in the Presidential election.  

Candidates for 1868 in Alabama?  Grant for the Republican Party (getting 51-percent of the vote) against Seymour of the Democratic Party.  I should note....50,000 more Alabama citizens voted in 1868, than in 1860.  Grant's votes?  Oddly, they came from the center of the state where the major slave plantations existed before 1860.  Seymour took the bulk of county votes south and north of the center 'ring'.  

Oddly enough out of this Grant vote trend....Winston County in the north (by itself) took a 70-percent Grant win.  How this happened?  There's a fair amount of new immigrants into the region after the war, and I suspect that Grant gained via that method (probably figure into the extra 50,000 new voters).  

Should You Have To Show 'Masterly' Of Math, Reading And Writing To Graduate High School?

 The state of Oregon sat down and thought about it, and finally in the past week....said 'no'.  

Their logic?  Well....kids of 'color' (meaning Hispanic/Black)...can't get their act together on the topics of writing, reading and math in school.  So the consequence falls into play....you shouldn't be tested for graduation purposes.  You just get a certificate of completion, a hand-shake, and out the door you go.  

Your potential employer?  I would imagine Oregon business operations will quietly and quickly develop a 25-question test for you....as you seek to be employed.  Questions like.....the population of X-town was 10,000 in 1999, and they've lost 10-percent of their population over the past 23 years...what number does the current population relate to?

What's really going on?  I would take a guess, and suggest three issues: (1) too many marginal teachers employed in the state and unable to 'teach'. (2) A fair number of kids are products of alcohol/drug issue parents, and unable to concentrate at the level required for high school.  (3) Most residents not wanting assign responsibility to teachers or students. 

But here's the bigger issue....if you have 15,000 kids a year from Oregon who can't perform beyond the 8th grade level of math,  reading and writing....showing up at colleges in the state....how do you explain to them that level of knowledge is not enough to 'enter'?  Do you deny the 15,000 entry?  Do you add a 5th/6th year onto college....teaching them the masterly stuff they were supposed to learn in high school?  

Then you wonder....if you got so many young people lacking....should you go and force the over-65 age Oregonian folks to 'man-up' and work ten to fifteen extra years because they are the best and brightest in the state at present?

It's a weird problem and you just wonder....did some alien-UFO folks land and just insert stupidity into a huge population of Oregonian people?

Just Odd

 An American streaming-video service (not Netflix) has signed a contract with the German folks who produce the series 'Tatort'.....to air roughly 250 of the 1,000-plus episodes they've made of the series (since the 1980s).  

I would imagine English sub-titles will be used.

What of the series?  Well....in the first three minutes of each episode....there's a murder, and it's left dangling over who did it.  

So there are various detectives from each major city who get the call, and investigate.

Some of these (I will admit) are crap.  Some are actually five-star.

The Munester-team (Professor-Doctor Boerne and Detective Thiel) are a duo who have a comic prospective and I'd rate their shows at the five-star level.  There's currently 43 of their films in the 'bucket'.

The Kiel-crew (Detective Borowski and Detective Brandt) make some pretty interesting films (total of 39).

The Wiesbaden-shows?  Detective Murot.  If you were looking for weird twists and turns....it's five star.

I've probably watched in the neighborhood of 150 of the 90-minute murder series and will agree there are serious losers in the bunch, but 20-percent will shock you on quality of the script.  

So if you see the streaming-service chatty about having added 'Tatort'.....yeah, it's probably worth signing up.  

The most shocking show?  They did an episode where blood was at a scene, but no body, and were convinced for 85 minutes that a murder had occurred. In the final five minutes, they discover the supposed dead guy was still alive, and the whole effort to find the murderer and body....was totally wasted.  Then the chief suspect is all angry/upset about faked-up murder.....that he actually does murder the fake-dead guy. 

Safety Bulletin

 

This went out this week in DC...to Senate and staff members.

Basically warning them of crime and threats in their environment.

Yeah, the stuff that regular Americans experienced....has finally come to threaten the elected folks.

How The Whig Party Dissolved

 From the 1760s to 1854....there were two political parties in America....the Democratic Party and the Whig Party.

So in 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act came into play (passing).  

After this, the northern group of Whigs kinda left the party and went to a newly forming group....the Republican Party. 

Southern Whigs?  There weren't that many, but they mostly went to a quickly formed 'American' Party, and later transformed their small unit to the Constitutional Union Party. 

To note: John Bell ran for the Presidency in 1860 under the Constitutional Union Party....getting around 12-percent of the national vote (mostly southern politically-minded former Whigs).

I would suggest presently, we are in a 1850s mentality and the Republican Party, as it stands today....probably will only exist after 2030 in a marginal form (like the southern Whig folks).  

 

The 1910 People

 Matt Walsh quote:

"Someone born in 1910 would have lived through WW1, WW2, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, and the Kennedy assassination all before they turned 60. We live in comparatively uneventful times."

I would probably add seven additional lines.

The same people (born in 1910) would have marveled at the inventions of penicillin, band-aides (came in the 1920s), the hamburger (1924), traffic signals, the electric guitar, walkie-talkies, the TV, silly putty, barcodes, solar cells, the passenger jet, LED, digital maps, rockets, and the automatic transmission.

The same people would be shocked at the complexity of life evolving.

The same people would be shocked at railway stations dissolving away, and interstate roads getting you from coast to coast in three days.  

This Travis King Episode

 If you remember....Private Travis King was this guy who got all stressed out....while in South Korea, and ended up crossing the border into North Korea....thinking his life would improve.  

The North Koreans after a while....came to realize that the guy had no value whatsoever, and was a 'problem'....so they gave him back to South Korea.

Yesterday, the US Army announced that they have eight charges up against him...desertion is one of them (pretty serious), and oddly enough....some kind of child-porn charge comes into play.  Looking at the mess, if convicted on all eight....he'd probably be doing 15 to 20 years in prison.

King being mentally incompetent?  At some point, his Army lawyer is going to ask for a mental eval, and I suspect that the Army clinic will admit on maturity level....King is probably a 12-year old kid, and not capable of adult actions.

Army's fault for accepting him into service?  Well....you have a limited amount of time to look over test results and just assign a number to each recruit.  King, I suspect, just fell through.  

But here's the thing.....the Army has wasted tons of man-hours on King so far, and they need to show something for all this worthless effort.  

King walking free?  It wouldn't shock me if the charges were dropped and a discharge given to the guy....because of his mental issues. 

The Best Have Better Things To Do

 I watched some interview of Senator Fetterman (D-Penn) in the past two weeks, and he hyped on.....'the best and brightest are not going to DC to represent people'.

I paused over it and it's been on my mind for a while.

Yeah, to be honest....if I were a successful farmer, trucker, tire-sales guy, bartender, real estate salesman, or mechanic....there's better things to do in life than go be a Senator in DC.

But my negativity goes beyond that.

You'd have to dress up and look fake-successful...meaning a full-up suit (figure $300 minimum) and $300 shoes (the nice fitting type).  

You'd have to practice over and over....to make as few comments as possible....to avoid looking stupid.

You'd have to avoid whiskey and booze, or getting into drunken commentary.

You'd have to show common sense and wisdom....around the clock.

You'd have to avoid farting in elevators.

You'd have to treat half-witted reporters at least in respectful way.

You'd have to at least keep your trophy-half-witted wife in a happy situation, so she doesn't run off with the tennis-trainer.

There's just a lot of hassle involved.

So the better, smarter, and more thoughtful folks have better things in life to do....than wasting six to twelve years in DC.  

Wasn't The Whole Purpose Of College To Inoculate You From Propaganda/BS?

 Well....in some ways, the original purpose was to give you unique skills and perceptions....to ask questions and gain insight into subjects.  

Through the 1990s....I think to some degree....the majority of colleges were attempting to do that.

In the past twenty years?  They've basically gone in a number of cases to present propaganda, as the one-and-only 'truth' and without insight/analysis or skepticism....you fall into a pit of believing just about anything.

The engineering and science fields are probably the least affected so far, although medicine has gone to the deep end and been able to convince of various hoax-like fake-truths.  

Where this is leading?  Well....if you go and spend $100k of borrowed money....to get a fake degree....mostly feeding you BS/propaganda, what's the value of the degree a decade later?  At some point, society is going to react and lay you off from your position, with minimum opportunities to repay the $100k of debt.

There's some bad times coming for some folks.

Some Observation Of Mine

 I read some piece today where Prince Harold and his gal....Meghan....apparently are pretty crapped-out over podcast failures.  

So, three observations I can offer:

First, I'd say that about 98-percent of folks should not take up the idea of starting a blog or podcast for the general public.  Find some hobby...like refinishing old chairs, tinkering with motorcycles, or travel off to Peru instead.

Second, I probably watch around thirty podcasts per month, and most have some kind of different view on things (like that Rogan guy, or the Trigonometry duo) that makes things interesting.  Looking at Harold or his woman Meghan....I just can't imagine what can of story or commentary they can offer.

It's not like they run off to the Amazon to catch big-snakes, or do horse-shoe work, or do cross-country biking, or grill burgers in some exotic way.

Third and final.....both these two seem to think that people are generally fascinated by this image they project.  To be honest, I just can't think of anything that the two do....except dress well for first-class travel or funerals.  Beyond that....if they stopped by the house and asked for a cup of water....I wouldn't pull out the $7 glasses for them....I'd probably use those cheapo plastic cups for their drinking water.

I regret if anyone is offended (as much as I can offer from my Alabama manners).

Recommended TV Series

 If you have Netflix, there is a great 6-part TV series now available....called '6ixtynin9', which is a non-English series, and I'd highly recommend it.

Yeah, I'd call it a dark comedy, and there's a fair amount of murder involved.

All in Thai?  Yeah, with English sub-titles.  

On creative scripting?  It's one of the top ten I've seen in the past decade.  

The Generation Z Article

 I read a piece off Fortune magazine, which is often chatty about employment in American and trends in business.

So the topic was....Generation Z folks (born 1996 to 2010) are slow to return to the office (mandating they want home-office) and are 'defying' orders to return to the traditional office.  

I would agree....in some cases, people are currently willing to quit a company over this issue.  

What'll happen is my question.

I believe eventually....companies will let the Gen-Z folks know that they can play out this 'stay-home' game but there's some pay scale change, where you accept a 20-percent less pay deal....which triggers most of the Gen-Z crowd to quit.  As the 'herd' goes to search out new jobs.....companies will hold a line and Gen-Z folks will be forced to compromise....taking a $5k to $8k pay-cut if they consider home-office so important.

Here's the thing....they are fixated on avoiding difficult people....from their peers, to the bosses.  After almost four years of this in the Covid-era....they believe they can play this out for the remainder of their life.  

But I look at this and wonder...if you were born in 1996, you've got to play this until 2061 (fairly long time away), and avoiding difficult people just isn't going to be possible for that amount of time.

I don't think there's been a phobia word designed for this Gen-Z problem....but eventually, some medical folks will have to create one, and then design a 'rehab' for these people.

Kinda funny how business operations now have to deal with this stupid problem, if you think about it.  

Coffee Story

 I sat on a plane in the past two weeks.....with the stewardess folks coming around to sell you beverages.  This was a cheap-ass flight....virtually everything has a price-tag (even coffee and water).

They offered up coffee to me.  I reviewed the deal.  You got basically a cup of hot water....packet of freeze-dry coffee (not premium), and a cookie....for five Euro (figure $5.40).  

I just started laughing.  I'd suggest the cookie was worth maybe $1, but the coffee was crappy stuff.  This is how bad the airline industry has gone....selling you crap for a significant price. 

The Thing About Low IQ People

 Over my life (now closing in on 65 years), I've had to deal occasionally with low IQ people.  I reached some point in my mid-twenties.....where I realized it was best to avoid them as much as possible, and if forced to engage with them....keep it simple and short.

There are seven things I've learned over the years:

1.  Low IQ people typically don't learn lessons (making a mistake and never reviewing it to avoid making it again).  I think it's not that they avoid 'learning'....it's just that they don't prioritize it as being significant.

2.  Anything 'new' that comes out....tends to be avoided by low IQ people.  It could be a movie idea, music, computer programs, or even new technology.

3.  People's views on things tend to evolve (change).  But with low IQ people.....it stays on the original path as much as possible.

4.  Consequences on long-term issues....aren't a priority for low IQ people.  

5.  It's best not to be sarcastic or offer sarcasm to a low IQ person.....they won't get it.

6.  On decision-making....they (the low IQ types) usually limit the pro's and con's to just what you can count on one-single hand.  Beyond that, they are challenged.

7.  Finally, even if a low-IQ learns 'something'.....being able to apply it or rationalize it into a formula or plan for use later.....won't be possible.  

Do we need low IQ  folks?  Yes....somebody has to flip burgers.  You just don't want to deal with the burger flippers on a daily basis.

Housing Story

 I noticed that Morgan Stanley (the money-people) did a survey and found that 50-percent of young adults....are still living with their parents (all-time record).  Highest rate since the 'great depression'.

This brings me to the thought....are we in a 'less-than-great depression'?  Since the Covid era....I've tended to believe that the old method of assessing the economy is crap, and doesn't work any longer.  

If you live in California?  Well....even if you cleared $3,000 a month on pay (after taxes)......I'm not sure it'd be enough to settle housing and general expenses.  Maybe in Tennessee or Mississippi....$3,000 a month would work.  

Where this is leading?  Disgruntled young people....with angry motivation on voting.

Defining Woke

 I saw this a day ago, and it's been on my mind.

Woke defined: 'A state of awareness only achieved by those dumb enough to find injustice in literally everything they see or feel.....except their own behavior itself.'

The problem is....if you have just one single guy in a group of five.....things only go to a single level.  If you have a dozen woke people in a group of 20....they tend to start trying to out-woke each other.  They may even reach a point where nothing can exist without some form of injustice being noticed....like suggesting having a afternoon ice cream....is racist.

This Biden Wall Game

What Biden directed is basically to wrap up and finish the Texas wall, to crossing of migrants.   AZ, California and NM?  Well...they have democratic governors, and his handlers assume that migrants won't be put on busses to Philly, Chicago or NYC.

Wise? When you have a herd of 5,000 migrants a day coming across your state....folks tend to notice things. I would imagine that folks in AZ will notice and start bus events to continue delivering migrants to sanctuary cities.

The development?   I think several big city mayor's have given 'hell' to the handlers and demanded something to change. 

Oh, and this wall work?  I'd guess there's a minimum of 6 months of work required.  I should also note...the wall business so far has proven marginally to be effective.  Those buses from Texas?  I would imagine they will keep operating.

Ecars Decreasing?

Well...interesting numbers today....registration for September of 2023 is roughly 30 percent less that September of 2022 for Germany.

Big deal? Well...I hate to suggest it, but I think peak interest has been achieved.   

After my test drive in 2020, I personally didn't see the hype or charm.

A political problem?  Yeah, if you see registration in September of 2024 at half of September 2022's numbers...there will be chaos.