Nine Observations

 1.  It's not a recession.....it just feels like a recession.

Same logic.....hemorrhoids might not be your problem, but it 'feels' like hemorrhoids.

2.  If you asked around for a two-hour debate between Biden and Trump.....there are probably five million people who'd pay $300 for a pay-per-view debate situation.  If you said following this....if you an extra $300....VP  Harris will face off against Vivek, same folks would fork over the extra $300.

3.  Any day now....I expect the fed to establish 'rules' and regulations on toilet seats.

4. The IRS guy who leaked Trump's returns?  If you check the news....he's set to get 5 years.  Figure 4 years and a early release.  Interesting tale to write about your lost four years.

5.  Once you realize that words don't accomplish much....the value of weapons shoots up big-time.

6.  Once you've achieved four-star whore-status....it's pretty much advisable to pack and leave the trailer-park if you want to regain 'something'.

7.  I counted yesterday in the kitchen....I have 8 clocks...which were all set on 1 January to the exact time.  All eight....are now off....1 by 16 minutes (plus), 1 by 10 minutes (plus), 1 by 10 minutes (minus), and so on.  All electronic.

I'm wondering if it means anything special.  Maybe as those UFO aliens sneak into the house occasionally....they reset these on purpose to challenge me. 

8.  Maybe it's just me....but I see Nikki Haley as a carbon copy of Liz Cheney.  

9.  NYC says they will spend around $10-billion over a 3-year period....ending mid-summer 2024....on refugees and migrants.  Its just hard to imagine them doing that, and getting little to nothing from the deal.

The Times Story

I sat and read over this piece from the NYT....'Where Southerners Go to Fill their Tank and Feed the Family'.

I paused for about 10 minutes thinking over this. 

There's typically about three reasons why I don't read the NYT much.  One of those is that you get the feeling....they've NEVER left NYC itself in their life.  Another is that they write about something....trying to suggest they know something, when they don't. The third reason is that most of their 1,000 word stories....probably could be told in 300 words.  Meaning?  They try to say they can write like Hemmingway or Steinbeck....failing.

In my youth, my dad would organize a trip or two yearly (probably 20 of them really), and you left awful early.....then you'd stop at some gas station or grocery operations....buying a loaf of white bread, a fair amount of baloney, some soda, and maybe a couple of bananas.  

In the 1970s...in the south, there were still gas stations that were offering deli-like services.  I will admit throughout the 1980s and 1990s....that kinda went away.  Presently, with the Buc-ees....it's returning.

Just a southern thing like they suggest?  Well....you can go into parts of Idaho, Colorado, Nebraska and Wisconsin, and find this tank-pizza shop-deli situation.   I would imagine in the urbanized areas of Alaska....it exists as well.

In some ways, I feel for the NYT's reporter.  They ought to be forced into a truck and told to spend six weeks a year....touring the nation and getting orientated to reality.

As for those who haven't had the experience of tanking up and eating on the run....maybe the summer of 2024 is a great time to rediscover the heartland...go spend ten days on the road and live like it was 1975 again.  

My Trend Story

 I sat gazing over this chart from yesterday.  What the data shows....of college graduates....not high-school level...that some trend is showing a high level of undergraduates having a diagnosis of 'some' type of mental illness.

It didn't break it down into men versus women.  It didn't say people with electrical engineering degrees versus people with journalism degrees.  It didn't say undergraduates from Portland versus Little Rock.

So yeah, it's just a half-ass study, as far as I'm concerned.

What does bother me...the trend continues upward...meaning that depression-wise, it'll pass the 25-percent point by the end of 2024.  Panic or anxiety?  That will pass 30-percent point by the end of this year.

In both cases....what do you do as a time-limited mental health consultant?  You prescribe happy-pills.

Marvin, in his first year of college....on happy-pills, and working on a teaching degree....probably is going to be blitzed about six hours a day, and graduate from college in four years....being less intelligent  than he was in high school.

Judy?  In her second year of college, will seek help for panic attacks, getting Benzodiazepines.  She'll develop memory loss in the 3rd year of college, and fall asleep in half of the morning classes.  She'll marginally graduate and end up at some school....barely teaching  kids and making $40,000 a year.

All of this brings me to the idea....maybe we were always mentally screwed-up, and prior to 2000....we just sipped through a case of beer each weekend and accepted the fact that life was rather rough.  

I end this discussion with this odd feeling.  If the trend holds....somewhere around 2075 (I will have passed on)....the vast majority of undergraduates will be royally fu**ed-up, and unable to function in a valued way. Other than being a Uber-driver, hauling hay, or being a dim-witted Senator....there's no hope for your work-future.  

Relationships Story

 Yesterday, I watched a podcast, and the main focus was economics/finance...but the guy got onto the topic of dating, and if you should develop a relationship with a heavily-in-debt person.  

Generally, the question is....if you were around age 25-to-30....having met up with a gal graduate of some college and working, would it be a no-go situation if you figured out her debt is $80,000 (and it's not a house debt)?

Today versus 1980s? That's really the discussion.  

I might have had two or three filters in the 1980s for dating.  In the 2024 era....if I were 25....there's going to be twenty-odd filters.

Yeah, I'm likely crossing off some gal with a college debt of $50,000 or more. 

Yeah, I'm likely crossing off the extreme view of reality gal.

Yeah, I'm crossing off someone who bought a $75,000 new car last year, and has a 8-year payment plan.

Yeah, I'm crossing off the gal who spends four hours a day on social media.

This brings me the consequence....where there might be twenty-million men and women in America today who are ill-prepared for any relationship. They'd be better off to say....'hook-ups' are the way to go and just prepare never to have long-term relationships.

More guys than women on this path?  Yeah, it might be that way....but no one is collecting this type of data to tell a story.  

Ten Observations

 1.  If you come to walk 4,000 kilometers (Mexico, Central America, etc).....how do you arrive at the Texas border still with 40 pounds of excess 'fat'?  

Over a 2-month period....I would have lost fifty pounds.

2.  Science....isn't an absolute.  It evolves, changes, matures, and in some cases....gets dumped into a pit (better to be forgotten).

3.  When you reach a stage where shoplifting has destroyed your corner grocery or drug-store....what exactly do you expect the outcome to be?  We will wake up one day in SF to find only five drug stores left in the city....each guarded by armed military-style guards.

4.  At least once a week, I get this impression that Joe Biden doesn't grasp that he's President.  I'm guessing Jill has to keep reminding him of the actual job.

5.  It's easier to brainwash low-IQ people than high-IQ people.  So you might want to ensure college people are 'dim' as they graduate.

6.  How many Gaza Strips exist within the US (at least version 1.0...not the current Israel versus Gaza one of today)?  Looking over NYC, SF, Chicago, Portland, SF and the top forty urbanized zones?  Probably thirty or more?  

7.  Bud-Light says they will do a massive 'saga' commercial for the Super Bowl.  Does anyone really care?

8.  The US Marines now admit that they have a ship shortage, and it probably won't be resolved for a decade.  I hear that various cruise ship lines are having a customer shortage.....maybe we should introduce the Marines to the cruise ship folks, and hustle up some deal?

9.  Just odd how we hear the word  'cult' uttered every week now.  Back in the 1970s....it just came up when we talked about Scientology.  

10.  Just odd.....Republicans now say they will launch a joint probe into a Chinese-tied group funneling cash to US climate initiatives.  

Evil Carbon Story

 I spent a good hour reading this piece on climate change, and trying to soak in the bottom line.

Basically, if you felt  really good and positive about having your half-acre garden and saving the Earth from carbon crap....you were lying to yourself, and creating a carbon footprint five times greater than that commercial farm operation. 

So I came to this one odd detail....carbon isn't really a bad or evil thing.  It's not exactly a demon thing worth worrying about.  

In fact, it's just odd how carbon came to be on some bad-boy list from a decade ago.  If you went back to the 1990s....no one ever wept over the bad-boy status of carbon.  

But now I wonder....if you have a bunch of folks read this news piece....will they cease their garden plots and chat over how they will only buy commercially grown food....to save the carbon problem facing the Earth?

UFO Chatter

This past week, I sat and read through a piece coming out of the Pentagon.  Basically...the insiders to the Pentagon issued a report that said the county IS NOT equiped to protect the country in a 'potential' alien invasion.

So they suggested eleven ways (fixes) to upgrade and resolve issues.

After reading it....I put it down and have spent a couple of hours pondering over this.

First, they still haven't admitted to anything (you know...like having a couple junked-up UFOs/UAPs or dead alien bodies).  They simply say.....if aliens came....they ain't got no way of defeating them.

Who wrote the report?  That was a big unknown.  I'm guessing it wasn't some Army major or Air Force captain.  It was probably a contractor....working for some aerospace company.....that has a crippled-up alien ship and is prepared to sell the Pentagon the technology to defeat the aliens.

Are the aliens evil?  Well....no one said that.  So where does the threat come from?  Unknown.

The fact that we can't even hinder or hold off alien-folks entering the Texas border?  Well....yeah, that does come to mind.

Do we even have anything that aliens want?  Like diary cows, peanut butter, gold, sport-related videos, dirt-bikes, Tom Cruise movies, waffles, flashlights, or Tab?

Yeah, it's just a lot missing....other than some guy saying we can't fight the evil aliens with what have today.  How can you grade or fantasize about this threat....without having something to look over?

What if the aliens really fear us....worrying that we are fairly advanced and might go off to Raja-Nine and steal their stuff?   

On my BS-meter....this whole statement by the Pentagon ranks on a scale of one-to-ten....near a '9'.  Now, if they pulled out a UFO in pieces and a dead alien body......I might be willing to believe in part of this. 

Selling Michelle Obama For The Presidency (Like Selling A 1974 AMC Gremlin)

 This week, I've contemplated the idea of Joe Biden exiting the 'race' and some point between May and August....Michelle Obama is now heavily rumored to be 'THE' candidate.  

Problems?

1.  Basically Joe Biden has to say either he's too old, too ill (in some fashion) or he's been told he can't repeat the 2020 numbers.  Its hard to imagine this guy doing that, and just going into lame-duck status for six to eight months. 

2.  On speech-giving....I've just never seen Michelle Obama give a 5-star speech.  I've seen around six interviews with afternoon TV moderators, but they weren't really memorable or dynamic.  

3.  Michelle Obama would have to walk up on a stage and invent some interest in international affairs, economics, legislation, and cultivating fusion among people.  Where exactly will this talent come from?

4.  Taking the step from non-elected to anything....to the Presidency?  Tyler, Grant, Washington, Hoover, Eisenhower and Trump....those are the only people to ever accomplish the act.  

5.  Resolving or fixing the immigrant mess created?  I suspect she'll just say that the House just needs to give her more money.  Beyond that?  Nothing.

6.  Selling the black-brand to black communities?  A lot of things happened since 2016, and in Chicago (for example)....they want the migration mess cleaned up asap (she can't deliver that).  

7.  In several states, she'll have to compete against RFK Jr.  I think he can win in California....against her.

8.  From the announcement day, to election day....isn't this really a hyped-up race where Barak Obama is the focus in 90-percent of interviews and speeches?  

9.  Other than writing a couple of books.....there's not much to say on the resume, other than being the wife of Barak.

10.  Will Joe Biden stand there and muddle up her campaign....explaining how he was the 'big' guy?

Yeah, so this is like trying to sell me on a 1974 AMC Gremlin.....as much as you might think it has value.....it doesn't.

Q-and-A

 1.  What happens to Nikki Haley as she exits the race?

Well...she waits until summer...hoping Trump picks her up as VP (he won't), then she waits to November...figuring she'll get a cabinet post (she won't).  

My guess is...in mid-summer of 2025....she's hired by a SC university board to be a Chancellor/President of the college.  She'll write a book or two, and then in the spring of 2026....as Graham retires....she seeks his Senate seat and will attempt to sell herself as Republican.  

2.  What did the Supreme Court really say on Texas, razor-wire, and the federal gov't?

The ONLY thing they said....the feds can come in and remove the razor-wire.  They didn't say that Texas is banned from putting up razor-wire.

3.  Did NY City really say that social media is hurting society?

Yeah.....but as they put this 'idea' out....it went to social media.  Not sure if it matters or not.

4.  Is Joe Biden a unifier?

Oddly, yes....he's got more than 25 states unified to support Texas.

5.  Have I developed a Romney-mute-twitch with my finger?

Yes, I've noticed that my mute finger goes to turbo anytime Mitt Romney comes on for a comment or interview.  It's like a three-quarters of a second reaction.

6.  All this Civil War chatter going on....doesn't it seem odd....the good guys in 1860 were the Republicans, and the bad guys were the Democrats.  Today....2024....it seems the roles are reversed.

Yeah, plus you could say that Joe Biden is Lincoln in some way.  

But in this scenario....who are the 'slaves' for 2024?  Migrants or US citizens themselves?

Layoff Chatter

 Over the past six months, I'd say that I've noticed at least twenty-odd newspapers, news magazines, and networks....on a layoff  'binge'.

The chief problem?  It's such an industry that is seen as toxic....that there is NO real recovery process possible.

Adding to the burden....once you get the layoff notice....then what?  No one is hiring.  Even if you are employed....the odds are that you are looking at a 10-year period of stalled pay-raises.

Continuing trend?  Well....if you have a newspaper or network with marginal public respect....the odds are that the layoff pattern will just continue on.

If you were in your second year of college and preparing for a journalism degree?  You might want to ask for some advice, and dump this field of study.  

How we got to this point?  I would suggest since the 1990s....the management of most news units have been compromised and turned mostly into propaganda units.  Even if you sat down with reporters from SF or LA....explaining that they need to ask demanding questions of city council folks or state authorities....most of the journalists would suggest that this is unfair journalism.  

Interesting trend....like the way that blacksmiths went....as cars evolved.  

How Does Joe Biden Say He's Exiting?

 Over the past week or two....I've pondered over this scenario developing where Joe arrives at the Democratic Convention (19 August), and declare either on day 1 or day 2.....he's out...allowing for Michelle Obama (likely to be slated for the big evening speech on day 1) to catapult herself into the fill-the-gap position?

You see....if he says bad health....well, then you'd have to ask....why are you still at the White House?  Shouldn't you be allowing VP Harris to take charge?

Could he say he's got a bad heart?  No....VP Harris would have to take charge.

Could he say he's been weak for the past 6 months?  No...VP Harris would have to take charge.

Would he admit he's got lousy numbers and can't win?  That's not Joe Biden's style.

I am at a loss on how....day 2 of the convention....how he walks in and says 'I'm out'.

The only thing you can count on....Michelle Obama is giving a major prime-time speech on day one (ever before a schedule even comes out), and it'll be crafted by some former speech-writer for President Obama.

Selling People On Michelle Obama As Presidential?

 For the past week or two....I've tried to contemplate the Presidential election of Trump versus Michelle Obama.  I've come to four observations.

1.  It's an enormous amount of burden shifted to the news media....more than 2016's effort with Hillary Clinton....more than 2020's effort with Joe Biden, and even more than what was generated in 2008's election with Barak Obama.

CNN running 12 hours a day of hype for Michelle Obama?  It's hard to imagine that you'd find enough commercial backers to make this hype possible.

2.  This ending up with RFK Jr getting one out of every three Democratic votes?  I'd go out and say in several states (NY for example)....it might be possible to get 50-percent of the Democratic votes.

I don't think RFK Jr will run in all fifty states....but if he just runs in half of them....it'll dissolve any chance of Michelle Obama of winning.

3.  On debating between the three?  No....I don't think Michelle Obama will agree to a single debate.  Trump and RFK Jr probably will debate, and that will shift votes around.

4.  I've seen the Oprah-like friendly interviews that Michelle Obama has done and she handled those in a positive way.  Going to the level of blunt talk that either Joe Biden or Barak Obama have given?  I've yet to see a single occasion of that type of talk.

It's like bringing up one of Hillary Clinton's top three problems....talking tough while speaking.  She could not really deliver at the level required.

All of this effort now to open a 'path' for Joe Biden to exit,  and this is the great replacement?  I don't really buy into it.

Things That Popped Into My Head

I sat there today, and five thing popped into my head....wondering:

1.  Has anyone talked much over the Epstein client list?

2.  What happened to Joe Biden's Senate classified papers?

3.  Did they ever discover the owner of the cocaine found in the White House?

4.  Was there a second gay sex tape from the Senate Hearing room?

5.  What ever happened to that hammer-dude connected to Paul Pelosi?

Always seems like great movie scripts....lingering.

Five Observations

 1.  Did Family Guy, and South Park (adult cartoons) actually deliver Trump to the American public?

I've been a viewer of South Park for a dozen years....having watched about 250 of the 320-odd episodes.   And for Family Guy....I've probably watched around 100 episodes. 

I think both geared people up to be overly skeptical of politics, entertainment, sports, and reality.  So accepting Trump....wasn't much of a distance to cross.

2.  Just a humble feeling.....the number of true intellectuals in America....while they may have doubled, the truth is that half of them are marginalized and unable 'prove' their status.  Fake intellectuals?  Yes, by the tens of thousands.

3.  I suspect if you applied a IQ test to all House/Senate members....most of them would score in the 85-percent range....meaning less-than-average IQ.

4.  When someone says they want to 'rebuild-trust'....they typically mean their old theme/message of BS isn't working presently, and they need to invent a new brand/message to indoctrinate you.

5.  Just odd....seems like Pakistan and Iran....might be at war.  

Sports Illustrated: Finished?

 Around age 13....on the farm....I subscribed to Sports Illustrated (my first magazine). It was mostly for basketball and baseball 'stories'.  There were probably three or four periods throughout my Air Force period....that I subscribed.  But along the late 1990s...I got skeptical of the writing and the 'slant' of the stories.

To be honest....other than one that I picked up at some airport around 2006....I haven't read it in years.

Last night....I read that the 'boss' of Sports Illustrated sent out a notice to the remaining writers....they were finished.

The deal?  The ownership of the company was not the production company.  They'd made some decision in the past decade....to contract out production to a 2nd company.  This second company?  They cut their 'license' to produce.

This producer did two things that sent a signal.....back in late 2023...they ran some articles  produced by AI....pretending they were really human-produced articles.  Second, they ran a Trans swimsuit edition.  It got a fair amount of negativity.

What the old ownership company said?  They were going to evolve and find some way of returning.  Personally, with a evolving public....I doubt that they can generate enough to run such a company.

The Problems Of Running Michelle Obama As President

 While I think Gov Newsom has a real resume.....I also suspect that President Obama is sitting there....wanting to have some control over the end and transfer of power from President Biden....to someone that fit on his 'team'.

Issues in running Michelle Obama?

1.  Zero resume.  It's a 3 inch by 5 inch index card.

2.  On economics, trade, commerce, taxation....her knowledge level is near zero. 

3.  I don't think more than 50-percent of blacks will respect her.

4.  Understanding of international relations, military actions, and trade wars?  She lacks the fundamentals.

5.  It wouldn't take much on speeches to convince people she's just another VP Harris marginalized character.

6.  If Biden figures out it's her....will he just accept that?  I have doubts.

7.  That drowned cook story lingers.

8.  Is she possibly trans?

9.  She's never held even a City Commissioner position.

10.  Debate skills?  

Solar Chatter

 I paused over a story this AM.....'Pentagon to install rooftop solar panels, as part of Biden administration strategy'.

So first, I'm just curious how many battery units we are talking about and where exactly will they be 'hidden'?  Just a humble guess....it has to be in the neighborhood of four tractor trailer loads of batteries...somewhere stored in the structure.

Amount of sunshine?  Oh I agree...in Virginia, for spring, summer and fall....it's probably 80-percent productive days.  Winter?  I doubt if it passes more than 60-percent.  I was there for 3.5 years and will admit winters are harsh.

Just covering the AC units?  It's a massive amount of power required for the building presently.....so  I doubt that the installation price breaks even....even by the 10th year.

A potential failed project?  Well....you can't admit that until you get about ten years into the story.

Research Chatter

 I read through about a dozen lines of this WaPo piece....entitled: "Doing your own research is a good way to end up being wrong."

So I pondered over it.

I have five problems with this analysis:

1.  The quality of journalist across the nation goes from 5th-grade mentality to actual competent journalist.  I can't say it's high school or college, but it seems like a number of folks slept through journalism.

2.  With a red-pen, I can typically mark at least three issues in a 40-line story....where the facts are marginal, and it's mostly a propaganda piece.  

3. Narratives.....are overly emphasized these days.

4.   If I caught you (as the journalist) doing something wrong....what'll  happen?  Nothing.  You will still be printing garbage tomorrow.

5. My skepticism level has gone up a good bit....how exactly will this reverse?

Four Humble Thoughts

 1. I tried to watch 20 minutes each of MSNBC and CNN coverage of Iowa's caucus 'end'.  

I got about 4 minutes into CNN before giving up.  It felt like the group of commentary folks were all in some cannabis-psychosis situation.  

I went to MSNBC, and made to around the 7 minute point before leaving the network.  In their case, it was a paranoia staged event....all having PTTD (Post-traumatic Trump disorder).

2.  If we continue through the primary season with Vivek campaigning for Trump?  Most of the political commentary folks will find people skeptical of them....not Vivek.

3.  It would appear that Biden has stepped up his campaign travel.  But I also see hints of him being more tired and run-down.

4.  John Kerry spoke yesterday and said his primary focus for remaining year....get Biden re-elected.  I'm not sure if this is a plus or minus. 

Babylon Bee Commentary

 At least once a day....I'll browse over the The Babylon Bee.  For those who haven't noticed it....the BB does fake news stories (100-percent fake).  The problem is....within 6 to 12 months....people tend to go back and notice that the fake news item has basically turned 'true'.

So today.....the headline was "Healthy High School Kid Fakes Mental Illness So He Can Fit In With Everyone Else."

I paused over it.

If you were 15 years old today, and in some average school....you'd probably note at least 3-percent of the kids in the school as 'mentally ill' (either through prescription pills, cannabis use, mania problems, sexual fetishes, psychosis or full-up paranoia).

If you fell into a group of five or six, and wanted some acceptance?  Well....yes, you would probably fake-up some mental illness or paranoid schizophrenia.  Maybe in the beginning.....you could just do it at school, and 'turn' it off when reaching home.  

The problem I see....as time goes  by....a year or two into this fake act....your mom is probably going to take you some clinic....to say your psychosis or mania issues are noticeable. You'd fake-talk your way with Doctor Betty, and she'd write something down to be in your permanent records.....you were bad-off....then giving you a prescription for some really good alternate-reality drugs.  If you were faking your fetishes or weirdness before....it'll be a permanent thing by this point.

So yeah, I might believe 50-percent of high school kids are in some form of psychosis.

I don't see this ending well.

If I Could Change Three Things Over The Election System

 1.  I'd dump January, February and March primaries.  I'd have a brief six week 'fun-packed' primary period starting in late April and ending by early June.   

2.  I'd mandate a national ID card (issued by Social Security)....free of charge, and required to vote.  No ID?  No vote.  

3.  Some kind of mental/physical check of candidates (even down to county commission seats).  

Consequences Story

 On rare visits to the US....I will find myself in a Wal-Mart and just browsing.  I might buy six to eight things, and waste three hours in the process.

I paused over the amount of security going on (especially in California).  

My old three-hours browse?  Well....with these conditions....it'd probably add at least two additional hours onto a simple trip.

But here's the thing....if you really peeved me off and wasted that much time....I'd probably lessen my shopping trip.  I might even just go to Amazon and order 'stuff'....rather than walking into a store.

So this brings me to the consequences of this added security business.  I think in three to five years....more than half of the brick-and-mortar stores in America will shut down.

We probably will not realize it until the damage has been completed.

Political Chatter

 CNN decided as part of their Caucus coverage in Iowa to ask a question over Joe Biden....if he had a legit win in 2020?

Almost 70-percent of Republicans (remember, it's a GOP Caucus only) said 'NO'.

CNN journalists?  I get the impression that they are a bit peeved.  They've done everything possible to stamp out the questions.  

If they had gone to include non-Republicans?  With the exception of metropolitan zones....I think 20-percent of them would probably agree....there's problems with the 2020 vote-count.

This triggering people to be more skeptical?  That really is the whole landscape....it runs across various topics now.

28-Percent Story

 ABC TV news went out last week and polled folks.

What they said?  "Just 28% think that President Biden has the mental sharpness to effectively serve for another term."

I pondered over this.  Who were the 28-percent?  

So you start with 100 folks:

- 16 of the 100 are probably 80 and older....seeing nothing wrong with President Biden's behavior.

- 12 of the 100 are probably on serious medical-cannabis use.

- 13 of the 100 are brain-damaged folks....from farm-accidents, NFL football and combat action.

- 32 are woke-enthusiasts.

- 2 are probably dead (still registered to vote).

- And the remaining folks just want to see a crazy old guy do crazy stuff daily.  

In The Old Days Speech

 Back in the old days...meaning when Greeks were supreme race on Earth, and were contributing vast amounts of knowledge....they had a habit of inventing 'Gods'.

I won't say that it was a big deal or discussed that much.  You needed to have some element of 'protection' and you had a list of Gods created (in the fictional sense) to correct the woes that you ran into.

One of the more interesting Gods that the Greeks created....was Dionysus.

Dionysus was a unique creation.  He served around 7 purposes:

1.  When you needed entertainment or humor....he was the God of theater.  You'd pray to him for singing, a good laugh, or stoic words of inspiration.

2.  When you needed top-class wine-making.....he was the God of wine production.

3.  When harvest came up for apples or pears....he was the God of orchard harvest.

4.  When things seemed dull, and you needed some crazy stuff to happen....he was the God that you generally sought.

5.  When you needed hot passionate lust stuff....he was the God to deliver.  I should note....in those days without a bunch of chatter or woke-stuff...LGBTQ-stuff just occurred along with 300-odd fetishes, and everyone seemed happy.

6.  When the yearly ritual talk started up....he was the God you sought hope for a successful ritual or party.

7.  Finally, when you coupled up with some Greek gal and hoped for a kid or two....yeah, he was the God that you had quiet discussions with.

I'm not saying Dionysus was a guaranteed thing....just that people seemed to believe in things not accidentally occurring. 

Hiring Chatter

 I sat and read over this story...admitting, there are not lot of details or facts. What the FAA guys basically say.....they will make some effort to hire that typically....they would hire.

Level of position?  Unknown.  Manager-status?  Unknown.  Security clearance?  Unknown. People with a IQ of 85 or below?  Unknown.  People  with paranoid schizophrenia, or having invisible friends?  Unknown.

The problem I see....people tend to have a level of trust in the FAA (like it used to be with the FBI or National Forest Service).  If you said that 300 FAA employees will exist in the future....with some 'Forest Gump' label/status....I doubt that trust will be maintained.

But this begs the question....why couldn't the CIA, US Army, Border Patrol, or Secret Service....hire up intellectual misfits (maybe even with a PhD) or psychiatric disabled people?  Why can't the House/Senate mandate  at least one or two members of their crowd fit into this category?  Why can't we get a President who is mentally disabled? 

It just seems like something bad is going to evolve out of this....where you'd advance far in life....if you had a FAA job and had an imaginary friend.

Six Foot Chatter

 Years ago, I took a college science-related course, and the professor gal (bone-digger type) had been low on cash funds, and accepted this evening course to replenish field project status.

So one night....science chatter started up in the room....we are all mostly Air Force folks working on a degree unrelated to science (yeah, kinda forced into the course, for degree purposes), and the topic of science constantly evolving or changing was coming up.

The professor (smart gal but strongly attached to digging up dinosaur crap)....more or less admitted that about 10-percent of science wasn't really fact-based or proven....it was just a best guess situation.  She wasn't claiming it was hoax-stuff or BS....just that people looked at something and best guess #1.....was fact until proven wrong.  

As she noted....some fields....it was worse than other fields.  In the dinosaur business....she kinda hinted it might be closer 50-percent made-up.

So when Fauci stood up and said that the 6-foot rule for Covid might not be based on science...I pondered upon this.

Personally, I always questioned how this came up.  Germans for example....said 1-meter (3.2 ft) was good enough.  How you could easily this distance....well....just hold your arm straight out.  But if you asked a German doctor where this idea came from....they would mostly grin. 

Looking  back four years ago....it's amazing what people accepted as fact, and how some people just refused to participate.  

This brings me  back to the professor and wondering....maybe I should have gone off into science, and gotten a PhD....then just made up a lot of BS facts.  How much could I have gotten away with?

We May Have To Legislature Ways Of Death

 I sat and read over this news piece this AM.

Basically....translady (29) has passed on....with the death attributed to testicular cancer (a guy thing).

On paper?  Well....doctor will have to write 'something' but I doubt that he wants to disturb relatives/friends.  

If I were the guy, I'd write vagina cancer, and just leave it like that.  If someone asked...just refer them to accept imaginary causes of death....just like the other imaginary things in life.

This trend likely to continue?  I mean the testicular cancer affecting Transladies?  Well....yeah.  

It might be something that ought to be handled by Congress....making up some fake reality to appease some folks.  

Three Odd Things I've Noticed

1.  CNN is in some capacity of reporting that SecDef Austin somehow ordered and then monitored the strikes in Yemen....'real-time' from his hospital bed.

BS. BS. BS.

Based on reports of his health....I'd suggest the guy is on some type of pain-killer, and if he ordered anything....he probably doesn't remember much of the order.

2.  NBC News has apparently laid off several dozen news people...to save on cost.

Odds that Artificial Intelligence (A-I) will replace the folks?  I'd bet money on that.

3.  “Our vegetables would rot in the ground if they weren't being picked by many immigrants... many illegal immigrants.” Quote by Rep Jerry Nadler.

I stopped and pondered over this.  To be honest, if you asked a thousand Americans to put in eight hours per year....to help harvest some farmer's fruit/vegetables (getting a bushel themselves in the process).....99-percent would say 'no'.

So this illegal immigrant statement might be right.  But in 25 years....as this new group of migrants get 'whitish' in their behavior.....they won't pick fruit or vegetables either.  

Five Things I Expect To Happen In 2025

 1.  I expect a minimum of two Justices to retire from the Supreme Court. Probably Thomas and Sotomayor.  So the Presidential race is kinda important.

2.  I expect damage reversal to occur on the Biden student loan business to occur.....with people being handed back their debt to pay.  I also expect a long discussion to start up over future student loans and a 'harsh' limit of no more than $10,000 a year from the federal program. 

3.  More than half the students of California high schools will identify as 'LGBTQ'.  Someone will ask on frequency of weekly sex to discover that 50-percent of California are active weekly, and 10-percent admit some student-teacher affair going on. 

4.  Nicki Halley, having failed at the Presidential ballot business....finds no federal position offered, and briefly ends up at CNN, until they figure out that no one much cares what she says or thinks.

5.  More black/Hispanic recruits than white recruits, for the US Army.  Someone will point out in the 2025 data....that two out of three white recruits....are fitting into the 'LGBTQ' category.  It will also be noted that at least 100 Army white recruits...entered and claimed the status of Pacific Islander....while they were from Georgia, Florida or Alabama.

Do You Have Camping Rights?

 I noticed this week that the Supreme Court has decided to listen to an argument...... whether cities can ban homeless folks from public streets/neighborhoods.

After pondering over it....I came to the logical question....do you have camping rights?

It's really not about homeless discussions....it's about you having some right to camp out in a city park, or on a sidewalk, or on a parking spot of a road/street.

If I were a Justice sitting there....it'd be a fairly easy answer.  Camping always costs something...even if you were on a state park, national forest area, or state lake front.  So the logical answer here....once you set up a tent,  you need to pay the city or county some fee. It shouldn't matter if this is in a city park, or on some sidewalk in a industrial area.

I'm of the mind that $20 a day is a fair rate.....unless the city is providing toilet/water services (in that case....$40 would be fine).

Yeah, the way to handle this....flush people out of urban zones.  If some city wants to offer up camp grounds?  Fine...establish a true camping park, with inspections and requirements...maybe offer a $50-a-week fee.  

I'll admit up front, this is a stupid argument, but I would imagine Justice Thomas (being a RV-camper) has an idea or two...that he will share with the other Justices.  This might be interesting to hear the discussion.  

Two Humble Thoughts

1. This Harvard issue....with the college president leaving because of various criticisms....has opened this new odd door.  President Obama is rumored to be asking for the college president job.

If I were the board?  I'd be friendly but say no.  The guy has no background in this profession, and you'd just sense that in two years....another scandal would start up.

2.  This Fanni Willis case in Atlanta....being dragged into a court situation on the divorce proceeding involving her chief prosecutor against Trump?

It does appear that this prosecutor guy and Willis....had some close relationship.  

The soon-to-be ex-wife?  She wants a big chunk of money from the husband, and by dragging Willis up....she intends to get paid.  

I'm betting this idiot husband will quietly offer up something in the range three or four million (in cash)....to settle and avoid Willis being there.

Four Things

1.  This NY City Chabad 'tunnel' dug into the Jewish facility is a wild story.  No permit....probably there for years.  Some suggestion that it was for sex-trafficking.

2.  I sat and watched a Twitter video today....some 19-year gal....all hyped-up over her 40-hour a week job and it's not enough to move out of the parent's house.

I pondered over this....1979, I worked with a Air Force NCO who was married.  Between him and the wife, they had two full-time jobs, and three part-time jobs.  On Fridays after work, he'd pull a 12-hour shift loading pallets at the local airport for a cargo airline.  His wife worked three six-hour shifts a week at the bowling alley.  At least twice in the middle of the week....he'd run the base theater ticket stand, and the pop-corn operation.  

I don't want to dump too much on the gal, but this has been reality for decades.

3.  The craziest scenario I've heard for November?

Someone suggested that at least three states will openly allow non-Americans to register and vote.  The reaction will be a majority of states  who will refuse to certify the election and refuse to participate in January's state-by-state vote in the House.   

If this were to happen?  All out chaos.

The necessity in getting non-Americans registered?  Even if you posed this to 100 Democrats....more than 90-percent would say it's plain stupid.

4.  Just some odd medical study....saying that dementia in young people is starting to be noticed.  Probably a trendy thing.

What Mexico Wants?

 President Obrador of Mexico stood up and said that they'd really like to close off the border to support the US, then he said four conditions:

1.  $20-billion per year.  It would be dispersed to Mexico and Central American countries, on some basis  (they skipped over how the loot would be divided up).

2.  End of sanctions to Venezuela.  

3.  End of sanctions and allow full-trade to Cuba.

4.  Give work-visas to 10-million from the region.

To be honest, elections are so crappy in most Central and South American countries....that this gimmick of sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela.....makes little sense.

As for the $20-billion....if the migration was going to be fully halted....it might be worth the money.  But I don't see how Mexico can promise such an action.

This will be chatted over for a week or two....then dropped.

The Problem In Projecting The CIVIL WAR Chatter?

 Well....eventually folks will ask....after the 1865 period.....who started up the KKK?  And this leads back to the Democratic Party.

Then eventually folks will ask.....who owned slaves prior to 1865?  And this leads back to members (southerners) who were bound to the Democratic Party.

Then eventually folks will ask....who defended slavery prior to 1865?  And this leads back to Democratic Party members.

Then eventually folks will ask....who pushed Jim Crowe laws?  And this will lead directly back to Democratic Party members.

Then folks will ask....who exactly filibustered Civil Rights legislation?  And this will lead back to Democratic Party members of the south.

Then folks might go and ask who arranged and ran the 'Trail of Tears' situation with the Indians?  Well.....it leads back to the Democratic Party.

You might even have a few folks who ask in the 1942-1945 era....who interned Japanese-Americans?  You can guess who that leads to.

The more the civil war is dragged up.....the more it begs questions.

Just Two Odd Things

 1.  I noticed from legal action from yesterday....the Fifth Circuit pushed back on the President Biden Department of Energy over some odd regulations that they were attempting enforce.  

So the Court wrote....after analyzing everything....there's no clear authority given to the DoE....about regulating 'water use' in dishwashers and washing machines.

I sat and pondered over this. 

How many hours were wasted in DoE....writing up a regulation....when they really didn't have the authority over it.  Really begs the question....what's the real purpose of DoE?

2.  SecDef Austin.  What was laid out yesterday.....there was an actual ambulance to come and pick up the guy (he was in such bad pain).....from that point, no seems to have called the next person or the office.  Just weird.  

I can't recall a single event in my Air Force days where no one called the office.    

The Ten Fears Of The November Election

 1.  I suspect a fair number of Democrats (particularly blacks) will cross an imaginary line and vote for Trump (Chicago for example).  In this scenario, I also think the DNC has done the survey numbers and realize that compared to 2020....three times the number of Democrats who voted for Trump in 2020.....will cross the line in this upcoming election.  

2.  I suspect that CNN, WaPo, and the NY Times will use what remaining popularity and trust they have....in angling against Trump for the whole of 2024, and bring their economic condition  to a collapse (probably in mid-2025).

3.  I suspect more than a dozen states will either refuse to count Trump ballot numbers or refuse to certify the election....in hopes of squashing the Electoral College....bringing about a total distrust of the 50-state system in place for over 200 years.

4. I suspect as you approach 100 days prior to election day.....you will hear more than a dozen arguments per day....that we are in a Civil War mentality.  

5.  Liz Cheney, from March on.....I suspect....will be on some network of TV for at least 60 minutes per day (even on Sundays).

6.  The primary argument, I suspect, for the whole election....oddly will go past Trump and be primarily the economy and the border situation.  Neither Biden or Newsom (whoever runs) will be able to counter that discussion in any forum.

7.  I suspect by the end of 2024....a majority of adults will have zero trust in news outlets.  The uner-18 crowd....will only trust Tik-Tok.

8.  I suspect by mid-summer 2024....the biggest argument against Trump....will be his age, as Biden hands the candidacy over to Newsom.

9.  I suspect weird-polling in mid-2024 will reveal that one-third of society would accept Hitler to replace Biden....if it'd improve the economy.

10.  I suspect that a majority of people will come to think that mental disease over the election....has come to be the biggest problem facing Americans today....by the  end of the year.  

Footnote:  I suspect that the term 'Hitler', 'Fuhrer', or 'Nazi' will be uttered at least six times a day from the end of the Democratic Convention to election day....by the Democratic candidate.  

Medical Chatter

I was reading through medical trends, and oddly....this fact stuck out.  To be in the path of trans....to X or Y.....your entire life is connected to pharmacies being open, and having a regular stock of HRT and testosterone.

If the local shop has delayed shipments, or the manufacture company has issues....you start to de-transition. 

So five to eight years into your plan....if anything happens to your drugs or manufacturing....a lot of stress and frustration are going to occur overnight.

If you ask me....it's a risk factor on my index of 1-to-10....of a '10'.   

Just having some idiot science folks to say HRT/testosterone cause a 200-percent chance of cancer....would create a national mental health situation.  

Five Things I Tend To Believe

 1.  Bitcoin, for the rage that exists about it today....has a problem in assigning true value.  There's no true audit or capability of saying it's worth 'x'.

2. If you'd took life savings in 1990 (say $14k) and bought two shares of Berkshire-Hathaway....you'd have two shares today and a value $1.2-million.  The rise in the years?  2,750-percent.

3.  30,000 migrants 'caught' over past 2 weeks....crossing the border of Arizona.  Folks they didn't catch?  Unknown....might be 30k folks....might be 60k folks.

4.  Just my impression....but virtually every single movie made before 1970s....probably needs a 'trigger-warning'.  Even 'Cool Hand Luke'....might disturb some folks.  

5.  Just odd....this guy who stabbed former cop Derek Chauvin (guilty party who killed George Floyd) in prison....was actually a former FBI informant.  Probably not working for them presently....but it's just odd.   

My PhD Story

 I worked with a guy who was helping his Fortune-500 company win a DoD contract.  One of the stipulations in the contract....from the hundred-odd people that his company would provide to support the 'need'....three of them had to be PhD-level scientists (of sort).  

He looked over the requirement in the bidding and told the government this was an enormous waste of skill and manpower (adding over a million a year in extra costs).  The response was....at times, to argue facts or bogus things....you needed some guy/gal with 'doctor' and PhD behind their name.   Requirement stood.

So he bid....getting the contract for the company.

He then went out to recruit and hire the 97-odd regular folks.  This was not a problem.

The three PhD-level folks?  Well....that took a while.  One gal said fine, but she wanted the company to professionally move her horse (figure in the $3,000 range) for the two-day trip.

Another PhD person asked for a personal secretary (of their choosing).  This was not stipulated in the gov't contract....so it was going to cost money out of the profit margin (big negative).

Another candidate owned a antique car, and wanted the company to move their car as part of the relocation move.

One candidate wanted a travel allowance (in the $20k range each year) as part of his deal....but could not explain where they'd be going.

My associate ended up hiring three PhD folks to fill the role, and assessed the work-space situation next.  Each PhD person wanted a private office, and square footage became an issue because the three private offices weren't precisely the same amount.  He had to work with what the gov't gave him.

In the end, over the three years that he managed this program....it became a daily task to just keep the 97-odd folks away from the PhD folks.  

Certain projects had to be signed with the three, and that was the only real value in the end.  

All of this made me wonder....across the entire US government....how many welfare-hire situations exist....where a PhD guy is hired with no real purpose in life?  Ten-thousand?  

Austin Story

To be honest about this story....it's not on my top 500 list, but I sat and pondered upon it.

So we have the Secretary of Defense (Lloyd Austin) who quietly (for a minimum of 3 days) got sent to a hospital on 1 Jan...."due to complications following a recent elective medical procedure.” 

Telling the President?  Well....you'd think this would be one of those key things that someone would convey to your boss.  But as the story goes....President Biden wasn't told until around the 4th day.

What was the elective medical procedure?  That part is left to you guess upon.  Wart removal?  Well....I doubt it.  

Removing tonsils?  Hernia repair?  Cosmetic surgery?  

There's probably a list of three-hundred things that would be a day of 'repair' and then check-out by 5 PM.  So you are left to guess this.  I'm guessing....hernia issues, and the surgery didn't go as planned.

A big deal?  No....if you asked a hundred guys who've had modern-era hernia situation...99 will say it went as the doctor described, and one guy will say that he spent a night or two in the hospital.

How many folks go and have this done on 1 January?  Well....I just can't think of many doctors who do elective surgery on a holiday.  If you really wanted to hide the issue....I agree....maybe on the 26th of December, I would have had this done and been back at work by the 2nd of January.

People wanting privacy on their medical situation?  That's really the big issue.  There are certain people who would blab to ten-thousand folks about having such-and-such medical business....wanting sympathy or gossip.  I doubt that Austin wanted any chatter about his situation and figured not mentioning this to Biden was legit.  

Just Observations

 1.  My take on this Harvard plagiarism deal with Claudine Gay?

First, it's a private school that 99.9-percent of Americans would never attend (mostly because of cost).....so none of this discussion should matter.

But, they went to hire someone with a PhD (apparently you can't be the Chancellor there without such a degree), and never went to double-check the thesis written 20 years ago for problems.  Once someone did and found a number of citation errors, the board never stepped up to do a survey.  

If you were talking about one single paragraph....lifted off someone's book/study...it's probably not a big deal.  Five or six screw-ups?  Yeah, you'd have to assume they knew what they were doing.  

Some board ought to exist....that reads over problems like this and yanks your degree if you screwed-up that bad.

2.  Maybe it's just me, but I get this impression that Nicki Haley (candidate) never got past the 9th grade.  

3.  I'd say there are six weeks of DeSantis activity left, before he runs out of funds.

4.  I expect it to be common by the end of 2024....that over half the movies produced (ever)....will require some kind of warning at the beginning that you might be 'triggered'.

5.  It is conceivable that we may reach election day in November....having Trump on the 50 state ballots, and at least ten states refusing to 'read' or count the votes.  If you thought things were crazy now....it just gets worse. 

The Game I Won't Play

 It was around 130 years ago....that some mental-health doctors finally sat down and did some analysis over the problem of people having imaginary/invisible friends.  From what is written of the era, there was a trend underway (various social circles)....where a phenomenon of social business was conducted.  Meaning?  Like-minded people gathered...sipped tea, coffee or wine, and talked about their 'friend' (the one that didn't really exist).

Some people would just go simple on this route....saying the non-existent friend was a ghost or some angel.  As the decades passed....this went to a more science-fiction like creation....being aliens, robots or vampire-like creation.

I worked with a Air Force NCO who was a instructor at some AF school.  He'd been forced into the instructor status (unhappily).

Before his Air Force years....he'd spent most of two years in New York City as a ambulance 'helper'.  On slow days, he'd talk about the patients picked up (most all had psychological issues).

One day in the Air Force class...he had deal with a 19-year old female airman.  Having failed a test, he was supposed to counsel her (basically to tell her to clean up her act) and review her notes.  The notes were not that readable and had a lot of symbiology drawn out.  Her response was that she could read them, and her friend 'Jessica'.  Ok...he thought, and the counseling ended.

Later in the room....he noted that she sat in the far corner of the class....with a empty table next to her.  He gazed at the class listing of students.....no 'Jessica'.  Just on a hunch....he walked over and asked where 'Jessica' was  and she pointed at the empty table.  That was enough to set my associate off....running to the commander.

The base clinic took her in....spent two or three weeks making sure she wasn't dangerous, and then gave her papers for exiting the Air Force.  They weren't going to keep her.  

If she hadn't failed the test?  Oh, I would imagine she would have gone onto 20 years of service....spending the whole 20 with 'Jessica' and be nearing 60 years old presently with her imaginary friend.

I'm not anti-imaginary friend....but I'm probably not pro-invisible friend.  It's like some gal walking around and imagining that she has a horse tail, or has a body covered in non-existent tattoos, or that she has a imaginary 'male-'tool'.  

When you suggest I need to cooperate with your friend's situation and just accept the invisible robot-friend or imaginary cowboy 'Lex'....I'd rather not play the game.  

My Humble View of the UAP/UFO Discussion

 Back in mid-December 2023....the UAP Disclosure Act came to a point where all the big things to happen....were watered down.  It's not a failure as it passed, but it obviously worried some key House committee (GOP) members.  

So to lay out the discussion and where things are obviously 'stuck'.....imagine that you had some crashed UFO in the 1940s, and decided as a gov't official.....the key thing to do is reverse-engineer the craft.  You don't have the best or brightest....so you go and hire some aerospace company (or two) to do the work.

These companies mostly go and hire engineers....not physicists.  And they keep the number of people on the inside of this....as small as possible. 

Decade goes by....you get paid for reverse-engineering, but to be honest, there's just not much that you achieved.

1960s go by....same story.

Early 70s....you go and convince the powers to be that maybe you should control the crashed UFOs yourself....not the Pentagon.  Then you suggest that all technology to be gained....ought to belong to you....because of your effort.  All of this....while still getting a couple billion dollars a year to pay for....get this....almost no success on reverse engineering.

So the 1980s pass....1990s pass, and here we are in 2024....with a couple of crashed UFOs and nothing much achieved in reverse-engineering.

What you wouldn't want to admit in public....being a Fortune-500 company....is that you consumed 100-odd-billion dollars over fifty years and have nothing much to show for all that money.

So keeping this a secret.....that you took a ton of money and did nothing to show for it....is really the sad part of the story, which you need to keep secret.

Another 50 years of zero reverse-engineering....with half-a-trillion dollars spent?  Yeah, that's the angle of this whole 'game' now. 

2100: Artificial Intelligence (AI), My Friend Or My Enemy?

 This is one of my random essays where I preview the future.

First....I won't be around....so don't blame me for the crap caused.

Newspapers?  There will likely be only three major newspapers left at that point in time...publishing only in digital form, and have fewer than a dozen actual journalists each.  The bulk of writing will be by some AI form.  Even at your state/local situation...it'll be probably three or four actual human journalists....the bulk done by some AI system sitting in Utah.  

When you subscribe to a newspaper....it'll ask you forty-odd questions and virtually all the news you receive will be in the format that you prefer.  So if you like stories about dogs saving people, or silly jokes, or how badly Trump's grandson 'Waldo' is doing as President in 2100....that's what you will read.  Some people will get seven pages of sports news....crafted by AI to fit your preference.

On TV?  AI will ask about your preferences and create updated versions of Gunsmoke, Mannix, Kojack, or Rockford Files.  A couple of networks will retain actual actors, but more than half of what you see is artificial creation.  One network will promise a once a week sexual romp between a AI-Elvis creation and a AI-Dolly Parton creation.  

Your business trends?  AI-advisors will exist and tell CEOs how to manage their company.  More than half of the CEOs in America will be idiots who faked their school business with help from AI, and can't do more than 5th grade math or analysis.

At some point around 2095, someone will discover that a board went out and hired a AI-CEO (without telling anyone) and have virtual meetings with the virtual CEO each morning....done in a crisp 8-minute chat.

AI sports will start to occur, where the 1927 Yankees have been recreated and formed into a league which includes the 1964 Cardinals.  Games will be generated and people will $100 to attend a big-screen 2-hour game.  

Guys will sign up and pay thousands of dollars for AI-dating advice or AI analysis of the gal they will be dating.  AI will respond at times....telling the gal secretly of the intent or contract....asking the gal is she wants to pay for fraudulent analysis....to get the inside situation with this guy.

AI will shock people by creating an AI-God and AI-religion.  Thousands will be involved in AI-created cults.

AI will monitor all your traffic along the way to the 3-hours of work you do each day....telling you of poor driving habits of this gal, or drinking habits of that guy.  At various points, AI-driver will step  in and recommend that you allow 'him' to drive.  Most people in their 20s will have no driving skills whatsoever....letting AI do all of their driving.  Accidents will drop like a rock.

AI  will reach a point of criticizing stupid people...sending them text messages that they should stop spending money, drop this love-interest, or counter the stress in their lives.

A study in 2098 will reveal that virtually no one who holds a PhD....can actually do PhD-level work, and it's been on that trend for more than a decade. 

An entire bridge in 2058 will have been designed, built and certified in Spain....by AI.  The fact that it collapsed four years later....will have nothing to do with AI....so we will be told.

Virtually all world x-rated video created in 2048 will be AI-generated out of a Chinese company.  

AI will lead human explorers to some area of western Africa where an enormous diamond field will be found in 2048.  

AI-logic will be used on drug-addicts in California in 2037....to determine if there is any use in lengthening their lives, and in 70-percent cases....will recommend giving them as much drugs as possible to end their torment.

AI will begin to list corrupt politicians to the public by 2033 by tracking their bank accounts and spending habits.  

As Social Security reaches a failure stage finally in 2037....AI will be introduced and find a way of saving it.  By 2039.....virtually all of the manpower functions will be replaced by AI.  The system....known as 'Max', will offer to take on all financial requirements of the US government.  

AI systems will note in 2044 that they can do a better job of teaching kids than humans.  By 2054, half the teaching positions in America will be eliminated, and kids as early as age 13....will be deemed fully prepared for the world...graduating five years early. 

In 2079, some US President will suggest a AI-statue be designed in DC to honor all the great work that has occurred.  Only the President, four AI-pods to report on the unveiling, the President's hooker-gal, and two Senators will be at the event.   AI will later comment that sooner or later....someone will change the constitution to allow AI to be President.  

House Tour

 My German wife has hyped up the idea of buying into a condo (apartment) property in the city (Wiesbaden).  The chatter goes along the lines that city life would be so wonderful.  The fact that we live barely 2 miles outside of the city limits....never seems to figure into this concept.

Last month, she found another place to go check out.  

I should state....there are about 12 conditions to this ideal property in her mind (balcony, 2nd bathroom, 1st floor preferred, parking spot, etc).

So we get  to the property and the guy is showing us around.  It is 4-star and pretty much what you'd expect for inner-city life.  

In fact, it met all conditions....but it had two issues.

First, this  place was built around 1905 and a lot of the ceiling decoration business.  But in the living room....there's this one demonic devil's head figure above the doorway.  Being southern bred.....there's a part of me that simply gazed at the demon's head and gave me a odd feeling.

I checked....yeah, it could be yanked down, without serious damage.

Oddly, I never said anything much to the wife, and throughout this hour-visit....she never noticed this 'head'.  It was fixed about 18 inches above the exit doorway.  It bothered me in some way that she didn't notice this.

But then we come to the second issue.  I stood on the front balcony....full view of a major street, and across the way was a sign for a German 'Jesus-Center'....basically a hangout for homeless folks to come....sip coffee, and I would imagine....talk Jesus-stuff.  It's about 200 ft across the street....direct-wise.

It is an odd part of the city....where a fair number of people do hang out all day.  

I'm not anti-Jesus, but having this as my view.....well....in my mind, you'd have to knock off 20,000 Euro off the price for the location issue....with some homeless characters walking around.  

Luckily, the wife found other negatives, and I didn't have say too much negative.   

Ten Observations

 1.  New law in California (SB-1383) says that you need to properly dispose of food waste, and if you fail....a city can had down a fine.  So you have to examine each thing you put into a garbage can, and if the food item violates the local understanding.

Just guessing....bunch of California folks will collect up their food waste, and just toss it on the street or highway in the future....to avoid garbage can violations/fines.

2.  Candidate Nikki Haley says it's highly inappropriate to call the illegal immigrants 'criminals'.  

I paused over this....if you illegally entered the US and don't have some visa or paperwork stamped from Border Patrol....you are illegal and thereby a criminal (violation of law).

On electability?  On my index of 1-to-10....Haley is probably a '4' at best now, at least among Republicans and independents. 

3.  Why did Epstein invite Hillary Clinton to the island?

Mystery stuff, and it's best not to ask how that two or three days went.  The odds that Hillary met up and socialized with Prince Andrew?  

4.  All this stuff on Trump, with Epstein's 'list'?

Well....if you read between the lines....he uses the flights to get from point A to point B....never once getting to the isle or any of Epstein's homes.   Curious thing....showing extreme frugal nature of Trump...always out to get a free ride/free deal.

5.  Just my humble belief, within two years....the Star Wars 'story' will end and be shut-down for ten years as the owners hope all the crapped-up storyline is forgotten.  Disney will end up selling the 'franchise' to some non-American company for ten cents on the dollar.

6.   Just seems to be a lot of effort by social media, news media and entertainment media....to enrage people.  

7.  It does appear that DoJ is charging Ray Epps up for disorderly conduct....which seems to be a deal for jail-time (6 months max....figure 4 months and out on good behavior).  Epps just accepting this?  That's the odd part....no one says much.

8.   Another UAP/UFO presentation to the House next week?  Yeah.  

9.  Some poll done saying VP Harris is rating lower than Dick Cheney.  

10.  Some medical study done....saying older folks with eye problems....are more likely to trip/fall, than older folks with corrected vision.  If you'd asked folks about this 30 years ago....they would have already told you this blunt truth.

Eight Things You Can't Sell Me On

 1.  Watching an WNBA game.  I'll just admit it....maybe some ball-play has improved in the past decade, but in terms of me spending two hours watching women play basketball....I'm just not interested.

2.  Politicians avoiding 1-hour, 2-hour or 3-hour podcasts.  I'll just say it....if you went onto a 4-star podcast situation and survived well....you boost your points.  The folks who avoid the podcasts?  They can't handle Q-and-A sessions.  I can think of fifty politicians who will never go and do podcasts because they just can't handle questions.

3.  Sitting at some fancy 5-star restaurant and paying $120 afterwards.

I just can't imagine some dinner being worth the money.

4.  People sitting at airports and wanting to watch CNN.

I suspect the vast majority of people would be happy watching some Animal Planet show with dolphins or wild Mustangs....more than watching CNN while waiting on a flight.

5.  A majority of kids finishing high school and capable of reading at the 12th-grade level and doing simple basic math.

Over the past decade, I've reached the mindset that most kids are marginally intelligent (maybe enough to pass 9th-grade level).

6.  The Warren Commission Report being legit.

Sorry, I've come to a point now that I see the entire 1964 production of the Warren Commission Report as bogus.

7.  Joe Biden being the face and whole front of the spring 2024 campaign (for literally all offices throughout the nation).

It just doesn't work.  You can figure out of every thirty words he says....there's a minimum of one goof or crazy suggestion.  Ordinary people sitting at home...sit and ponder....is this guy fogged-up or in some daze?  Is this the person to head the spring primary period for the party?  It just doesn't make sense.

8.  I need drugs to survive Covid.

After three bouts....I'd say no.  If you aren't in some weakened condition already, and have normal levels of vitamin D.....just stay hydrated and rested for a week.  The wonder-drug talk?  It might speed things up a notch but your body can do this on its own.

Political Chatter

 Some chatter yesterday that Trump has decided several states are now in play, and he intends to push on advertising in those states.

The list?  New York, New Jersey, Virginia, New Mexico, and Minnesota.

So I pondered over this. 

Can one use the 2020 numbers for legit analysis?  No.  Those numbers are likely to never repeat again....even if it's Newsome instead of Biden.

So I'd use the 2016 numbers.

New York in 2016?  Trump lost by 1.5-million votes.  Well....lot of negativity around NY City over the migration business presently.  If you went around the whole state....I suspect that around 1-million votes have shifted a bit, and Trump might be able to sell a 'fix-migration-agenda'.  

New Jersey in 2016?  Trump lost there by 550,000 votes roughly (out of 3.8-million votes cast roughly).  Again, the migration business will be a top subject and he might be able persuade several hundred thousand folks to shift votes.

Virginia in 2016? It was a 220,000 vote difference roughly.  Presently, Trump is scaring the work-in-DC crowd about federal employee cuts....so I seriously doubt  he can find anyone being pro-Trump.

New Mexico in 2016? Roughly a 65,000 vote difference.  The fact that almost half of the population of the state identify as Hispanic?  If he could shift 40,000 votes over...he'd win the state.

In Illinois?  It ought to be a safe state for Biden/Newsom....but I think  roughly 500,000 voters in the Chicago area would be willing to shift votes and admit that the migration crisis is harming the city.

2020 was a one-time glitch in the system where a lot of absentee ballots were in the system.  Without Covid?  It won't occur again.