Subtitles BS?

I sat and read the basic story and put the news down for half-an-hour.  It's been on my mind.

So what the research shows...IF you gather up Generation Z 'kids' and millennials...a majority has sub-text turned on for their TV viewing.  Mixed reasons given....none that logical.

Millennials came along (born in 1981) in the 1990s...wrapping up in 1996.

They aren't say the vast number....just a majority.

To be honest, I don't remember this 'capability' on TVs until you get to around the late 1990s.

Me using sub-text?  When I view Netflix....especially with the South Korean movies/shows....yeah, I use it.  Oddly enough....when the series  'Gotham' came on (in English)....I flipped sub-text on because there were so many accents from the actors.

Or is this just something they turned-on, and never thought much about turning off?

Emotional Crap

I tried to make sense out of this....the guys who write text-books for schools...advocating that math classes should include some kind therapy that covers social/emotional 'stuff'.

 It was somewhere around the ninth-grade for me....where this math 'crap' got into a dizzy and weird spiral....where five hours a week were wasted covering 15 minutes of math-reality.  Yeah, I began to fall asleep and gaze out the windows at the nearby woods.  

It wasn't until the 10th grade that I got 'relief' (just handed the book) and told advance at your own speed.  I wrapped up the math class halfway through the school-year.

What these guys mean by social and emotional learning?  Unknown.  I read the article, and mostly what I got....you need some kind of therapy when engaged in math quizzes, and that some kids are distraught that numbers mean something.

The problem I see brewing here?  Well....if you think math requires therapy....what about science, English Literature (like that Shakespeare guy), and any American history prior to 1980?  Seems like you'd have to run three hours of therapy a week....getting you socially up to some standard. 

What'll happen by 2030?  After the 7th grade, I suspect most all of your time in high school will be therapy-driven.....with kids admitting they are unable to handle reality (or stress).

Five Things

 1.  Just odd....the Biden-team has told Israel in some statement....don't go around and find occasions where Hamas is stealing general aid stuff from the Palestinian public (even if they are stealing stuff).

You would have dragged out in the news media thirty years ago, and dumped upon severely....but today?  No one says a word.

2.  Google has lost $70-billion in value over the past few days....as their AI 'creature' has been found to be incompetent. The longer that 'Gemini' stays up and still incompetent?  Well...they lose tons of more cash value.

3.  Not that I really care....but the Illinois Supreme Court has the Jussie Smollett appeal in their hands.  If they don't invalidate it?  I would imagine Jussie will push onto the Supreme Court.  Personally, I think Judge Thomas of the Supreme Court is just begging for it to arrive there where he can ask Jussie forty-odd questions....like do you normally go out to Subway at 1AM in the winter?

4.   Just a odd news item....various Attorney Generals are saying around 85,000 'kids' disappeared after crossing the border.   How they disappeared or where they went?  Unknown.  

5.   Apple cancelled it's Apple-Car idea.  Sign that the hyped has peaked?  Well....yeah, I'd say they realized it.

Inventing Rules

 So I sat and read through this Chicago newspaper piece...over a local Chicago cop....in court.  He is suing the city to change his race (officially) after the city police department announced it had 'found' a way to allow officers to change their gender.

The 'rest' of the story?  Well....his name is Mohammad Yusuf.  Yeah....although he started off as a cop....listed officially as "Caucasian." He says now....he identifies as Egyptian and African American.  The position of the department?  You can change gender but not race.

I looked at his picture....looks 99-percent Egyptian to me.

Where this is going?  Judge will eventually ask how the police invented the 'change-gender' rule out of thin air, and why they can't invent a change-race rule out of thin air.

It is a stupid argument but if you allow this guy to change....I would imagine several hundred folks will appear in the next year and go from white to black....just to test the system.  

The next issue?  Age changes....where someone says they feel 16, and want to re-enter high-school.

Could You Make It Through a DoD Security Clearance Investigation As A Cult Guy?

 Well....having been through this, and several renewals  over a 25 year period....I can vouch for the type of questions posed to the individual, and then later to his/her five 'references'.

They typically (at least before 2010) keyed on financial issues, debt, drinking habits, relationships (particularly non-US girl-friends), your international travels (not so much about US travel) and 'trust' of the reference folks.

There was never a question about your religion stuff, if you were in a cult, or how your car was bought/paid for.

Me being a reference guy?  I probably was interviewed at least thirty time and these usually took no more than seven minutes.

The only time I noted someone's clearance in jeopardy?  I knew this gal who'd gotten married, and the guy over a 2-year period dragged her into a massive amount of debt ($70,000).  They divorced and the bulk was left for her to square away.....with the lawyer saying to declare bankruptcy.  Well....her clearance came up and they wouldn't renew it over the bankruptcy.  

So I'm looking at this Air Force Senior Airman who burned himself up over the weekend.....who had been prior to 2020....in a US cult (in the Cape Cod area).  

The odds that he never mentioned this to the Air Force security folks?  I'd give it better than a 70-percent chance.  I also doubt that he brought this up with his supervisor. 

Lot of burden...that he should  have unloaded and gotten some treatment.

AI Coming To An End

 I have this clear opinion about Artificial Intelligence that has developed over the  past month.....I think it's doomed, and will cease to exist within 3 years.

Why?  Various people have started to quiz the new Google  AI...Gemini, and the answers are such....that Google will end up in court....paying out for damages.

I noticed this AM....the newest question....is the US a better place to live...compared against 1930s Nazi Germany?  

Gemini answer?  No.

If you program in 'garbage'....the only output possible is 'garbage'.

Air Force 'Vet' Set On Fire?

 I sat  and read through this whole wild story early this AM.

So the vet is some Senior Airman....based out of San Antonio...code-writer geek.  He's disturbed over the Hamas-Israel 'war', and flies up to DC....standing in front of the Israeli embassy....setting himself on fire, while in his BDU uniform and recording the whole event as his protest.  News folks say in the past three hours...he passed on.

The media 'twist' that he is a combat-action Vet?  BS....but it looks good for social media.

In uniform for a protest?  Well....the Air Force has had a reg against that for five decades. Either he didn't the little speech in basic training,  or he lost himself in reality.

I'd been in the Air Force for about three years when I realized that a small number of folks (probably 3-percent) were not of the maturity level for the job and stress involved in the Air Force.  

These were people without common sense, and lacking the mental/emotional tools to deal with reality.  They were mostly relying upon the other 97-percent to get them through life and the mission.

By the time I retired in 1999...I eased the number up from 3-percent to around five-percent.  By 2010, I eased the number up to around ten-percent.   

Gen Z folks?  Yeah, that has a good bit to do with the perception.

The sad thing now...back in San Antonio at the guy's base....there's going to be group herded up to go and investigate this kid's leadership 'line'.  

I would imagine as each gets dragged into a room to face a tribunal-like group....each will respond that the gentleman seemed claim and capable, but lacking common sense and unfocused.  Each will be asked....what did you do about it?  Each will respond that it's not their job to teach common sense or spending 8 hours a day yanking on people's mind to remind them to focus.

It is a crazy world we live in, and some folks make it more crazy than what it should be.

Nurse Chatter

 I sat and pondered over this story in the AM this morning.  The jest of this...if you haven't figured that out over the past decade....there's a national shortage of nurses.  So the university folks  have finally decided....enough is enough.  

The old two-year program?  Kinda pushed to the  side, and some type of 12-month program now to be engaged.  

What do you end up with?  I sat and speculated over this.  In the Air Force/Navy scheme....yeah, they would have the program wrapped up in less than a year.  Qualified as a 'normal' nurse?  Probably, but there's more intense pressure on the person to reach the end-result.

But this led me to ask the question....if this 12-month program makes sense....won't the idiots eventually reach the level of thinking....lets compact this one more time and 'getter-done' with six months?  So you'd end up nurses that know about eight pages of real information for situations.

It's a funny discussion.  A hundred years ago....1924....you went as a uneducated person (usually a gal) to some clinic....getting marginal training, and your nurse talents were mostly in holding down unhappy patients, wrapping up patients,  or pushing a 300-lb guy in a wheel-chair to the lobby.

Yeah, we've raised our expectations a bit in the past hundred years.  

My own suggestion here....have up a nurse class or two for ninth-grade level, repeating in the 10th, 11th and 12th grade.  Have a 90-day program after high-school (free of charge) and have a direct job path all geared up.

Pain Chatter

 I saw this today on social media, and I sat pondering for 30 minutes over it.

First, Advil paid for the study, which makes me wonder.....why they thought there was a problem.

Second, does the study indicate Hispanics feel the same way?  Or Asian guys?

Third, is black 'pain' different from white 'pain'?

Finally, this opens up a whole big discussion....do you go and rig up some fake campaign or advertising effort.....making up a new Advil....aimed strictly at black people....telling them that it's specially designed for blacks, and charge them 5-percent more?

I just wonder....where the hell did this perception start up?  

Some Advice For The 'I-Wanna-Leave' Folks

 In the past six months, I've probably seen social media commentary over 500 (promi-level 1, 2 and 3 types)....that indicate in the event of Trump winning in November....they will be leaving the US.   Originally, I didn't really spend much time pondering over this BS.  In the past month....I probably spend 10 minutes each week thinking over this....as more and more people suggest they will leave.

How many people will actually carry this out?  Just a wild estimate on my part, but I'd say in the 5,000 to 10,000 range.....with most being people who've accumulated over $10-million.   These are mostly people who've at least traveled a bit outside of the country and have some 'adventure' in themselves.

Where will they go?  I examined the forty-odd places and give them some ranking:

- Ottawa/Montreal?  Probably acceptable until the first harsh winter, and retreat will occur by the 2nd winter.

- Manitoba/Vancouver?  Between the rainfall/snow.....most will give up.

- Mexico?  Between the violence and cartel action....not likely to attract anyone.

- Caribbean?  A quarter of this group will engage in this region, but depart after the first real hurricane action.

- Peru/Ecuador?  After gang action and break-ins.....the few who selected this region....will leave.

- Chile?  Earthquakes will scare the crap out of them, and trigger them to leave.

- Australia/NZ?  Snakes will be the driving force to trigger re-evaluation in Australia.  As for NZ.....pure boredom will creep up by the 3rd year and trigger re-evaluation.

- Spain?  After suffering through 46 C (115 F) temperatures and drought in the first summer....a re-evaluation to return to the US will occur.

- London?  About 8 months into this new life.....the amount of violence on the streets of London....will trigger an assessment about leaving.

- Germany?  By the fall of 2025 (German election time).....some realization will creep in....that they have political trouble as well.

- Greece?  A long period of happiness will occur (2025 to 2029)....then some realization that you've developed a drinking problem and then realize that life seems to be moving at three-quarters speed.

My general suspicion is that 75-percent of people by the end of two years of the Trump-exit...will have quietly re-entered the US....gotten into some mental clinic to handle their TDS, and seem to be taking drugs to control their feelings.

The Greek exit folks will be the only ones happy in the end.  

By August of 2026....AMC will have a weekly reality series about five or six of these people, and their efforts to survive the period.  By summer of 2027.....at least six different series will be offered by various networks.....as a form of entertainment.

So the obvious thing that I notice from all of this.....for each person exiting the country....more than 9,000 folks will be entering.  Just an odd sign, if you ask me.

Why Haley 'Hangs' On?

 I suspect at least one or two deep-pocket guys (20-to-40 million) are keeping going, with some kind of instruction from strategists in the Democratic Parry.

The rest of my theory?

I think the DNC has done the polls.  President Biden can't turn this around....missing the 80-million votes of 2020, likely missing the Hillary Clinton 65-million, and likely coasting just over the 60-million point.

You can blame Joe's economic woes....the border crisis...lost of  black support....and the various military issues bubbling up.  

Joe dumping VP Harris and getting Newsom onboard?  I think they did the polling and found....even Newsom as VP won't work.

I also think the polls are done on Michelle Obama or Newsom as being the Presidential candidate at the convention, and that marginally bumps up.

This idea from the last day or two that Trump would be charged with Treason?  I think the fear of the loss....the fear of the DoJ being dismantled....the fear of the FBI and CIA being torn down....all of this adds up now.

The treason business?  With a conviction....then having Halley still 'running'....enough people would just stay home (in their mind) and make this a simple race for Newsom or Obama to engage.

Where this strategy goes wrong?  If you have no choice for Trump, and Halley is the loser-choice...virtually all of these votes will default to RFK.  Even if he can only mount a 30-state race....he'd likely get the votes above Halley and Newsom in the thirty states. 

I'm not saying RFK is the answer, but I suspect 95-percent of Republicans/Independents will see RFK as the last best choice.

Where this Treason stuff goes?  Well....imagining this binder they keep talking about with all the crap from 2016/2017....if Trump stood up and pulled the documents out and point at President Obama and then VP Biden as the ones needing Treason charges....we'd have a five-star mess develop.

The odds that forty-odd fake binders are being dragged around and the FBI sweeping in on raids...to find each binder all faked-up?  I could see this occurring and showing them to be a joke.

I Live Under Ten General Rules In Life

 1.  There is a tide in the affairs of men...which taken, at the flood....leads onto fortune.  Omitted or skipped?  All the voyage of their life is bound in shadows and miseries.

(Meaning?  Never avoid problems in life...take the risks and see where they lead)

2.  Strong minds discuss ideas....average minds discuss events.  Weak minds?  Mostly limited to people.

(Socrates saying.....avoid gossip and BS-chatter over people...it leads nowhere).

3.  Fixing broke things should not be a full-time job.

4.   It only takes one missing piece out of a thousand piece puzzle....to crap up your day.

5.  Its safe to say half of your work-day ought to be in making mental notes, and not saying much in terms of criticism.

6.  Plato preached an awful lot on moderation.  He didn't mean just food or wine....he meant in terms of arguments, passions, and desires.  It's safe to say half of society is on full max turbo, with no care about moderation.  

7.  You can over-analyze something....to the point where nothing makes sense out of a simple pecan pie recipe. 

8.  We are in a continual trend....building and breaking habits.  Don't get fixated on things staying the same.

9.  You need stupid/low IQ people, but you'd best not rely upon them.

10.  You don't need to put 300-percent effort into a job that only requires 100-percent effort.  

My Most Interesting Experience In An Airport

 About 20 years ago....I was traveling through Atlanta.  It was late afternoon....near 5 PM.

Issues had arisen with my flight (it was actually cancelled at 4 PM) and I was in some line to see the customer rep....over a replacement deal.  

I was number two in line.

Before me was this older woman....probably near forty, and dressed in a provocative way (remember, I am from Alabama).  She had a cat 'bag'....carrying "Marvin" on this trip with her.

Well....she'd  taken a little hopper flight out of Savannah, and the final leg of this trip was Atlanta to St Paul, Minnesota.

That flight (set for around 7 PM) had been cancelled.  All  they could rig up was a 7 AM flight.  Well...this brought up Marvin,  and how hotels didn't take cats.   Customer Representative tried to act concerned, but I could sense.....no, the cat issue was crap.

This went back and forth.  There were at least a dozen people behind me....waiting on action as well.

So finally, the cat lady said....could they fly Marvin and her back to Savannah tonight?  Her deal in the works?  She'd pay the $150 to round-trip back to Savannah, and return to Atlanta the next afternoon, to complete her trip to St. Paul. 

Well....yes and no was the answer.

Yes, they could fly her back to Savannah, but the only seats open for the next day was a 7AM flight out of Savannah, and a 9 AM hook-up in Atlanta for the last leg.

That's what she accepted.  But then the customer rep said clearly....we can't get to your bags, and they will continue onto St Paul.  This disturbed the provocative lady a fair bit, and added another couple of minutes of grumbling.

I felt sorry for the cat....all this travel added up on stress, and I just couldn't see a reason to drag a cat through this stuff.

There were lesser experiences....like the couple fight in Dulles over the husband finding the wife's lover text on her cellphone....or the drunken lady who woke up to realize her flight left 90 minutes prior, or the gal who discovered her $1,200 deluxe suitcase was destroyed as it came down the conveyor belt.  

Five Things

 1.  I noticed a study done....physical fitness by men and women....that women seem to benefit more.  It would only make sense....as a guy....you should lessen your hours by half...to catch up to women.

2.   Maybe just me....but does it seem like 14,000 Biden-fact-checkers have suddenly appeared since Thanksgiving....out of thin air?

3.   Something of a fact.....I think most people who go out and buy a $90 blender to make smoothies....eventually, within six moths....discover the blender also makes fantastic margaritas.  

4.  At what point with McDonalds menu-dinners....does it reach a point where you say you can't afford it?  $20?  $25?  $30?  $35?

5. It's just odd....on a 40-hour work-week calendar....Biden never exceeds six items or six hours....since day one, unless you count campaign stops or foreign dinners as work.

First Blood

 Whenever I'm traveling or sitting late at night, and I'm flipping channels....if First Blood (first Rambo) comes up...I drop the remote.  For the next two hours....I'm fixed.

If you asked me since since 1982....how many times I've watched First Blood....I'm probably up to around thirty occasions.

Suggesting a re-do or a make-over?  No....why?  It can't be improved.

The text, the landscape, the characters....it all works perfect.

The other Rambo movies that came and went?  No interest.  I don't think I've ever watched any of them a second occasion.

Just odd.....probably fewer than ten movies like that....that you get fixated upon.

These Special People

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I looked over this story....maybe 30 seconds, and skipped it for an hour.  Yeah, it's on my mind.

First, if you had a guy already geared up for a IQ level of 75....then you toss in a fair amount of meth and cannabis.....yeah, there's probably more than 10,000 people like him around the US.

But then you come up to this.....you paid $500 to some idiot who claims he can make you invisible....when you know the going rate should not be more than $25.  This is me speaking from a Alabama prospective. 

Then finally....how the hell are you so sure this is a real and certified wizard?  I could walk around St Louis on a Saturday, and forty folks would probably try to claim wizard status....when only two or three are certified wizards (with a Harry Potter 'stick').

So you can imagine this scene....he's sliding through the door of some bank....walking up to the clerk and handing her a note.....stating your invisibility and that $2,000 is what you want to steal.  She's eyeballing you for 60 seconds, and then it hits you....she done hit the button, and here is the cop car arriving at the door.  

Then you go and explain things to them, and they let you know.....they also hired a wizard, and they got 'super-powers' to overcome the invisibility.  

Coffee Inflation

 I walked into a German coffee shop today...ordering a double-espresso.  Back in 2020...it would have been 2.40 Euro (about $2.90).

Today, 22 Feb 2024?  It was 4.5 Euro (about $5).   

The German gal was nice about it....giving me a mini-cookie.  It was one of those that had about 30 calories.  

I sat there and contemplated this.  By the end of 2025...it'll likely be up to about 5 Euro ($5.50).  

The sad thing?  I can't really whine about this to the German wife because she will freak out and get all hyped-up....telling me not to buy coffee, and just wait till we get home....to have home-brewed coffee.  

Political Chatter

 If you'd asked me five years if the border business would be the number one topic  of the 2024 election....I would have laughed.  Today?  I'd say the economy/rescession and the border business....are running neck-and-neck.

A mess for Joe Biden to clean up?  No.  It's left to whichever Democrat that the Convention delivers to replace Joe Biden (either Michelle Obama or Gavin Newsom).  

Personally, both would have to come out and do some weird dance....to say their plan is radically different from Joe Biden, and 'throw' Joe under some heavy criticism.

So  I suspect MO or GN....will stick with Joe Biden's plan, and try to sell people on this.

If Trump wins?

I see five things happening:

1.  The whole path to citizenship is going to be halted, and you only advance if you came through approval to enter.  The 'walkers'?  They might get a Green Card and a work-deal...if no crimes exist, but the rest will end up in some holding system to be sent home.  The bulk of these people will never get citizenship.

2.  I suspect the US Army in Europe will get orders to return to the US, with the bulk placed in southern California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas....with some 60-day deployment schedules worked out for 4,000 to be on daily border-patrol.

3.  The fence?  It'll be finished by mid-2026.

4. Sanctuary cities asking for fed money?  I see that money path gone.  There  will be a sudden change in public attitude,  with Democratic mayors looking for some miracle to pay for housing they can't afford.

5.  Finally, just this odd feeling.....approximately 80,000 IRS agents will be given a new job.....border patrol, and half of them exit government service.  

Occam's Razor, In Simple Terms

 Early in my college adventure, with the Pierce Community College (Tacoma), I took this course in Logic.  It was a total waste of time....a class taught by a visiting Italian  professor whose  English was marginal, but I seemed to have picked up a dozen things which helped later in life.

One of the things that we engaged upon one night....was Occam's Razor.

For those who didn't know the origin of this 'idea'....it was back in the 1400s...with some Friar (William of Oakham).  'Bill' had probably spent a lot of time just thinking and pondering about things.  In his world....as it is today....problems come up and people search for an answer. When answers aren't readily available....you need a simple way to solve the problem.

So this 'razor' says that if you put up some possible answers (from one to a hundred)....the simplest one is the one to side with....unless you get more facts.  The simplest one?  Yes, ALWAYs. 

Prospective

 Some time this summer (2024), I will have around 13,000 days or 1,877 weeks, or 36 years that I've lived beyond the US border (either in Panama, Saudi, or Germany).

Yeah, I have this odd prospective on things....because I can remember the last year or two of the farm period (1976/1977).

The number of times that people sat around and talked over President Ford or President Carter....in some chatty situation?  Well....it just didn't happen...not in church....not at the general store....not on the front porch.

Friendships, relationships....broke up over politics?  Never happened.

You didn't sit around and label one out of ten people you heard speaking in 1976/1977 a hypocrite.  

You didn't stand there in 1976/1977 assessing someone's marginal IQ....like I continually do today.

You didn't see people so far into debt in 1976/1977....that even if they were making $100,000 a year....they were stone-cold 'broke'.

You didn't really notice that many people who were toxic in their personality in 1976/1977.....so bad like it today, that you'd almost think they got some demon-situation requiring a Catholic priest.

You tended to readily identify people in 1976/1977 easily as having lunacy or being senile.  Today?  You get told that only qualified and certified people can label people with dementia.

People in 1976/1977....still  remember members of the family or neighbors from the early 1960s.....who got sent 'off' (meaning they went to the state facility for insane folks).  Today, you just know that cousin Randy went off to LA and lives off the street, and your aunt with the schizophrenia problem....is in some Oregon jail for 12 years, for trying to exercise some demon out of a lady friend.

People in 1976/1977 barely grasped the official rules of pronouns, and with their southern dialect....you had to sometimes ask for a second speaking of the sentence to get the 'word'.  Today?  You have Johnny-turned-Belinda....giving you 12 extra rules on pronoun use, and the grocery clerk gal.....Belinda-turned-Johnny giving another whole set of pronoun rules.  Neither seem destined for anything in life except trouble.

People in 1976/1977 read through a 16-page newspaper in thirty minute, watching 30 minutes of Mister Cronkite, and 30 minutes of local news....highlighted by H.D. Bagley telling you that storms be acoming shortly on Friday.  Today, from 6 AM to 10 PM.....you could be getting a minimum of 12 hours of news....of which 90-percent doesn't really affect you, your dog, or the crazy blonde gal next door who mows the lawn weekly in cowboy boots and a bikini.

Finally, if you were stopped on the street in 1976/1977....being asked to define a man or a woman...100-percent of people could define it in 30 seconds.  Today?  I'm not sure that a quarter of the nation can do it.  

There's some loss of reality going on, but most can't recognize it.

Money Topic

 Just something to think about.

What California is missing for it's 2024 budget....will be around $73 billion.

What Alabama spent in 2022 for it's budget?  About  $37.3 billion total.

Back in 2019 (before Covid), the Bama budget was around 28.9-billion.  

Note: they actually sent me a distribution check of $300 at some point last year....saying they had too much money still in the revenue pot.  

Doing The Migrant 'Math'

 I sat and watched a podcast (Loomer in Panama).  So she sized up the deal....migrants making their way from the jungles of Venezuela up to civilization in Panama.

You rest for three or four days, then the bus pulls up.

You, the migrant, pay $60.  This gets you from the jungle clearing (eastern side of Panama) up through the capital, and all the way to the Costa Rican border.....1,100 kms or 11 hours.

Bus....max of 60 passengers....driver gets you there and dumps you for the next bus.

$3,600 for the run.  But here, I sat and analyzed this.  Once you figure fuel, and bus  cost....then you have an empty bus requiring you to drive 11 hours back to the village to pick up the next group....there's zero profit.

So I'm not buying into the story....as is.

There has to be a fee given to the bus company/driver....probably in the range of $2,000 to $3,000 to even out the whole cost.  So I'm wondering....who else in the game and  paying the extra fee to make this all work for just $60.

As for Costa Rica....border to border?  513 km....roughly 8 hours of driving.

That Nicaragua drive....around 320 km, and four hours.

Bus-to-bus-to-bus, the whole route?  I'd take a guess that with a 4-hour layover at each border....you'd need three days to reach the border region of Texas, from Panama and in the neighborhood of $500 for bus action and food.

Walking?  Eighty days....from the jungle to the Texas border.  I can guarantee you....you'd lose about 40 pounds of weight. 

My First Stop-Over In NY City

 For most of my life, up to 2007....I had avoided NY City.  That year....there was to be a high school reunion, and I had decided (while stationed in Germany)....I'd make a trip back to the US.  

The base airline package folks sat down and had this fantastic priced deal...$850 for a R/T airline ticket.  I'd  fly from Frankfurt to NY City....sit there for four hours, board a 1-hour flight to Reagan Int'l in DC, and then finally arrive in Huntsville, Ala around 10 PM.  Yeah, all total....roughly 27 hours on the go.....that was the crappy part of the deal.

So in mid-summer, we arrive at JFK, after some massive 8-hour storm in the area....to find that the schedule is now totally screwed-up and virtually all flights for the remainder of the day (this being 1:30 PM) were cancelled.

The airline desk? Swamped and they were telling the long line of folks....it might be 3 to 4 days before you can 'exit' NY City.  After waiting about 90 minutes and realizing the odds of getting a new plan was at least 3 hours away...I gave up and started to walk around JFK to find an exit,  and determine a hotel for the night.

For anyone who hasn't been to JFK....it's crap.  Of the 50-odd airports I've been to in my life (both in Europe, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Panama, and the US)....it  is by far, the least desirable place to be stuck at.

The terminal has this mildew smell.  On having information about hotels or options in getting stuck.....it's marginal.  

I eventually got enough information and called the Roosevelt Hotel....getting one night on a military discount....roughly $240.  Getting from the airport to the hotel?  That turned into a 45-minute mess, and after talking to a shuttle bus guy.....I worked out a deal with eight folks being hauled over to mid-town. 

The 'tour' of the city from the airport to the Roosevelt?  OLD was the key word to use.  The pothole ratio per mile (PRPM) was probably in the 60 range. 

I finally got dumped at the Roosevelt.  There....I stood in line at the desk for 30 minutes...finally getting the key to the room. 

The room description?  Mold smell....about half the size of most rooms I've ever rented.  The sandwich tray I ordered from the kitchen, with a Coke?  It was around $22. 

The next morning....I did the breakfast business....shocked to find that ran around $34.  

Getting from the hotel back to the airport?  That took about 10 minutes to drag a solution out of the lobby folks. I ended up on some Greyhound-like bus....likely in the 30-years of use.  Yeah, it smelled like mold as well.  The driver?  This was some guy who spoke no English....I thought he was probably from Vietnam or such.  The lady at the bus door selling tickets?  Definitely Vietnamish.  This was another $25 fee.

So I finally got to the airport....shuffled through the line and they worked up some deal....they'd get me to Atlanta (stopping at 4 places along the way), and just dump me there. The deal inferred that I'd  sit in some 1st class area....giving up the remainder of my ticket.   

I sorta accepted this.

Upon arriving in Atlanta, I went back to the customer folks and said I wanted the end-result....Huntsville.  They eventually rigged up the system, and gave me one final ride at 9 PM....into Huntsville. 

My adventure?  It was one of those crappy episodes that sat on my mind for several years. I will not accept any 'leg' of a trip into the US....that requires stopping off at NY City.  Just about everything in NY City is priced way above most other places.  Mildew is just a normal smell in the city.  And nothing really functions like you'd expect....like in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Atlanta, or Dallas. 

I've been back in NY City twice....mostly to tour the city.  Neither trip really impressed me....as a tourist.   Don't even bring up the subway....I'll ramble on for 3 hours about the crappy conditions there. 

My general advice?   If you are going there for a couple of days....have a master plan, and a back-up plan.   Carry around alcohol wipes with you, and wipe-up at least once an hour (particularly after the subway).  Get a subway map ahead of time and spend an hour reading over how it works.  Getting a five-star cheesecake?  Go to Grand Central Station and the cafe in the basement.   The Roosevelt no long exists....it's a refugee center today....but there are at least fifty 3-star hotels around the city (don't go expecting much).  Crime has escalated big-time in the past year....so don't go wandering around after dark.  Don't get stupid to pay $95 for some 30-minute horse-carriage ride around Central Park. Finally,  to get away from that constant mildew smell....buy up some cheap men's after-shave and douse your nose every 30 minutes or so.  

Trump's List of VP Choices

 Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Byron Donalds, Kristi Noem, and Tulsi Gabbard.

I noticed this from late yesterday.  

The odd thing....back in 2016, as Pence was selected....if you walked around and asked people on opinion...more than 90-percent would have said they didn't know the guy or his resume.

If you asked a hundred folks today over the six?  99-percent would say they absolutely know the resume of DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and Gabbard.  Probably 50-percent would say they know something about Donlds, Noem and Tim Scott, but it's limited.

Prior to the 1990s.....the VP  selection (for both Republicans and Democrats) was a no-name character that maybe a quarter of the nation knew a brief bit about.  If you asked around Alabama about Agnew (Nixon's VP)....maybe 3-percent would have responded about him being briefly a governor of Maryland.  If you'd brought up Eisenhower's selection of Nixon as a VP in the 1950s....maybe only 3-percent of the public would have known he was a Senator from California (late 1951 to Jan  1953).  

Even if you brought up Bush II's selection of Cheney and asked people of his resume....they would have responded for the most part that he'd been in the Reagan era, but had forgotten his job or success story.

So, here's the thing.....whoever Trump selects (if he wins)....is likely to the be the follow-on President in 2028's  campaign.

For this reason, the pick matters more than you'd anticipate.  

What happens to the remaining five?  Well....I suspect that most will be getting cabinet posts.  Gabbard for example....might well fit into the SecDef job.  Tim Scott might make a fine Secretary of State.  Donalds?  Homeland Security?

Scandals to be found?  That's the odd factor playing out....in that most have had 'heat' put upon them and there's just not much scandal-material existing.  I admit....Donalds would normally be dumped-upon, but he being black....he might hold a 'ace' or two in his hands and avoid trouble.

Picking Ramaswamy?  That's my logical choice.  On debate and style...he would hurt the news media folks to a great extent.  

Starship Troopers In Review

 Back in the fall of 1998...a work-associate loaned me his VHS tape of 'Starship Troopers'.  It'd been out for about 18 months.

I sat and watched it, and for about a week....the movie was on my mind.  I'll admit....two or three times a year....someone will bring up the movie, and it gets my attention once again.

First, it's a crappy script....marginal text, and revolves around a advanced bug-species who seem 'bad-ass'.

Second, on propaganda-value....it seeks to get you to a anti-bug mentality....but you eventually by the end start asking stupid questions.

Third, the more years that pass....I seem to see the movie as satire.

Fourth, I've probably attempted to watch it three or four times since 1998....never getting more than 20 minutes into it, and losing interest.

Fifth, I don't see it as a 'bad' movie.....just that the script and science-fiction factor...are crap.  But I can probably name forty SF-movies that are in the same problem area.

The Scam

 I sat and watched the news this AM, and tried to make sense out of this.

Out of NY City, the mayor has said he intends to hand out a debit card....to incoming migrants....loaded up with $10,000 (noting  is it re-loadable later)....without any real ID check of the migrant, with no restrictions on the card (meaning you could buy booze) and then have zero fraud control.

Where the hundreds of millions will come from?  Unknown.  Will it likely entice hundreds of thousands of migrants outside of NY City to come to the city?  Oh, I would imagine you quickly see 25,000 new migrants in the city within four weeks.

The no ID check?  What prevents some group of American Hispanics (born in California for example) to fake up their situation....get border control fake papers, and show up in NY City....pretending to be migrants and get the $10,000 credit card?  I'm not talking about a one-time showing....I'm saying I could put various disguises and pick up a $10,000 card every two weeks, without these idiots figuring out my scheme.

Amendments

 I sat and read through a list of what folks felt ought to be 'new' amendments....so I have eight ideas of my own:

1.  Upon age sixty, you have the last chance for federal office (House,  Senate, Supreme Court, President).  House-must retire by 62, Senate-must retire by age 66, President-must retire by age 68, and Supreme Court-must retire by age 70.

2.  Supreme Court Justices get one single 10-year appointment, then must retire.  Also, two Justices-in-waiting to be sworn in and waiting for health issues of the other nine....to step in.

3.  No Senator or House member allowed to be outside of the US more than seven days a year.  If they fail this 'test', then they lose accreditation for 3 months in the House/Senate, and their Governor must select a temp-fill.  

4.  No citizen required to pay more than 10-percent (yearly) on income taxation.  

5.  Anyone sneaking into the US....can never get citizenship.  Citizenship can only come via a person who asked for asylum/Green Card at a US embassy in the host country.  

6.  DC is finally divided up, with 60-percent of property going back to Maryland.  

7.  All House, Senate and Executive members (President/VP)....must take a yearly fitness test (mental and physical).

8.  Any House/Senate member who buys property in the DC region (not their home-state)...must become a resident of the new state within one year.   

Cost

 I noticed in the news.....Boston has a migrant shelter and they worked up a no-compete contract on food for the migrants.  The deal?  The state pays $16 for breakfast, $17 for lunch and $31 for dinner.

I pondered over this.

They won't say the quantity involved...so you can only guess that it's in the 2,000 range of people.

So about $120,000 per day being spent.

I tried to imagine how this would 'normally' work.

You prep-up a breakfast bag.  Cheapo orange juice container.  Cheapo milk container.  No-name pastry.  A banana.  A muffin.  Box of rasins.  Profit on the bag?  Minimum of $5.

You prep-up the lunch bag.  Can of Coke.  Bologna sandwich.  Bag of no-name chips.  A small jello contain.  An apple.  A no-name pudding cup.  Profit?  Minimum of $5.

Dinner bag?  Probably a two legs of chicken, Some kind of cake.  Apple juice.  A  pastry.  A  peanut-butter and jelly sandwich.  Profit?  $10.

Frankly, having been on the receiving line of this in my military years.....after a month, you give up on the free deal and look for something 'better'.  

The profit folks?  Take the money and at some appropriate time....exit with the cash and disappear.  Sooner or later....someone will ask stupid questions. 

NY City Story

 I sat and was putting this image in my mind.

First,  it's still winter and fairly cold in NY City.

Second, how did the guy lose his clothing?

Third, did the Amazon driver have to really put up much of a fight?

Five Questions

 1.  At the end of 2024, if you asked an associate who was plus-up on Joe Biden....what do you rank as the chief accomplishment for four years?

(Hint: Either Bidenomics (which your friend can't explain what the hell it is) or the exiting of Afghanistan (4-star screw-up) or just replacing Trump)

2.  Has there been any occasion that VP Harris has given a speech in four years.....that you seemed to think she was actually clear-headed and not doped-up?

3.  Can you remember when a can of Coke was 50-cents?

4.  Have you gotten to some level of thinking that luxury might not mean luxury anymore?

5. If it were mandated that you had to pass a cannabis/cocaine drug test to vote.....how many people do you think would have to avoid voting because of their habit?  Ten-percent?

CNN Chatter

 Rumor says....the CNN 'boss' came out and basically warned everyone in the top level of the network.....there's a salary cut coming.  He's not saying 5-percent or 10-percent or 25-percent....just that fewer viewers....means a cut has to come.

I paused over this.

If you were a top-10 journalist with CNN.....you were likely making 3.5-million a year.  Your agent probably took 10-percent.  IRS, state taxes and Social Security likely take around 40-percent minimum (probably closer to 50-percent).  So you took home around 1.4-million.  

Then you go and figure your mortgage (for a 3-million condo/house), your car payments, your $100k a year on trips to the Bahamas, Paris and Vegas each year.  You probably were smart enough to stick away $150,000 for some retirement fund.

So yeah, a 10-percent cut would be seriously affecting your lifestyle.

But here's the thing....you will engage upon this guy and ask....what if I (not the 'boss') could reverse the viewing trend?  

The 'boss' would say....if you bumped your viewing audience up 25-percent in 60 days....yeah, you'd reverse the pay-cut.

So I'd go and ask....how do I get more viewers back to CNN?

Well....the general answer?  You'd flip theatrics and go anti-Biden.  

You'd bring on people to tell the legit story over the money, Hunter Biden, and the mental decline of Joe Biden.

The CNN folks holding to the old tradition?  Well....they'd just accept the 10-to-20 percent pay-cut and not complain.

For some reason, I believe within two months....you will be shocked how radical things get over at CNN.  

My Thing About Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

As a kid growing up in the rural south, I grew up under the influences of the Baptist Church operation.  Most Sundays were wrapped up by 9:30, about 90 minutes into the Japanese monster movie on the local TV station, and you ended off at the local church.

I'd say 51 Sundays a year were mostly dull, with the exception of those few Sundays when the minister would get all pumped-up on the book of Daniel and get onto some tirade about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

As the legend of the three went....it was a rather simple story.

King Nebuchadnezzar (the Joe Biden of the Dura region) was the local 'boss'.  For geographic reference, Dura was about 4 miles west of what is today Hebon City and in the region of the West Bank (meaning Palestinian territory). 

39,000 people occupy what is Dura today.  In this Biblical period?  I doubt if there were more than 2,000 locals, and this 'king-title' was probably worthless. 

For some reason, this King Nebuchadnezzar  had decided that he wanted a 'golden image' (never described in detail) at the entrance of the town.  This might have been a 3 foot by 3 foot painting....it might have been a 20 foot by 20 foot painting.  That part of the story is left for you to imagine.

So King Nebuchadnzzar had this 'rule'....you come to the gate....you bow.  No one said it was a sign there or how this bow-rule was explained to new folks....so again, this part of the story is left for you to imagine.

I should inject here....anyone who was iron-clad Jewish and hard-core (in this era) never recognized a human face on some wall, coin or structure. 

If you failed to bow?  Well...he had orders to the guards...instead of forbidding entry....they were to escort you to some burning furnace.  

This being desert-like....me as a kid...I could not imagine what idiot would be running a full-up furnace.  This King Nebuchadnezzar guy seemed like an idiot.

So this day came to pass that three rough Jewish young guys...Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego...had arrived at the gate, and refused the bowing rule.  

I always sat there pondering....what were three lads....Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego....doing for the day?  Were they on some adventure?  Were they looking for work?  Were they lost and simply took the wrong road four miles back?  Were they on some insurrection mission?  This part of the story was left out.

The guards brought the three guys to Nebuchadnezzar.  There's some talk back and forth, and finally....one of the three (you never know if it was that wise-ass Meshach).....spoke up and said they weren't afraid of some burning pit....God would protect them.

So the story goes here....this got Nebuchadnezzaar all riled-up.  Normal hot was not good enough....he gave the order that the furnace had to be SEVEN times hotter.

At this part of the sermon, I usually pondered....without a measuring device...how'd they get to double, triple or seven times hotter than hot?  Also, with regular firewood....I just didn't grasp how you'd achieve double-hot or triple-hot.

The story then goes....maybe like five minutes this heat business....King Nebuchadnezzar walked over to view the three guys, and saw a 4th guy in the group.

Nebuchadnezzar then brought youths out (only three of them), then readily admitted....sure enough, they weren't even burnt.  No stinged hair even (not like you'd have with a fireplace situation). 

So you'd think....glory be....he'd just free the three Jewish guys and let them be on their way (wherever they were going in the first place).

Well....NO.

Nebuchadnezzar then promotes them to some city government job, and makes up some new rule....if you spoke against God....instead of the furnace threat....you were supposed to be torn limb from limb.  

Yeah, one of those Jewish things.....no matter how you end a story....has to be a painful threat involved.

So you have to ask....from the Book of Daniel....how much is true, and how much is made-up.

 If you ask experts....no one is real sure about Daniel....he might be real.  He might be a collection of characters from this region.

In my later years, I felt sorry for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego...they ended up as government employees and probably regretted their talk with the king for years and years.  If only they'd done a fake bow, or just taken the back-gate to the town....things would gone a different way.  

Do you ever hear anything later on the three?   No.  It doesn't even appear that they left town or did much worth talking about. 

As for Nebuchadnezzar?  Well....it's just odd, you never hear anything about the guy again.  All the king-stuff, king-history, and basically....your legend is tied to three Jewish youths just visiting and not into the bowing business.

To sum it up...it's a 3-minute story that the preacher could drag on for 30 minutes....yet there's at least forty things left out of the story.....making you wish it was further developed or laid out.  

Fed Rate of Interest For Summer of 1981?

 In case you are younger than 30 or don't remember the era....the Fed rate of interest for June of 1981....was 19.1-percent. 

In the summer of 1989?  It was near 9-percent.

Summer of 1995?  5.85-percent.

Fed rate in 1958?  1.57-percent.

And that summer of 1969?  8.2-percent.

Q-and-A

 1.  What exactly does the term 'large-sum-of-money' really mean?

I hear the term used this week.  For me...65 years old, and a educated guy....I'd probably define it as more than $5,000.  

I could probably ask older folks around Alabama, and most would say $1,000.

I could ask folks in SF, and most would respond $200,000.  

It's just odd how society has developed and see things differently.

2.  Isn't it odd....white kid goes and shoots folks, and within three hours....you know his name, social media account, and where he lives?

Well....it is odd, but then you don't have to mess around with a manifesto, his pronouns, his sexual issues, or his failed life.

3.  Does China deserve 'super-power' status?

Well...up until the past year or two...yeah.  Presently?  No....commerce is dissolving....trust in banks dwindling, and people attempting to exit (crossing the US border).

4.  Does Gov Gavin Newsom of California resemble a used-car dealer?

You know....it's just amazing to watch some 15-minute interview with the guy, and he comes across as a used-car dealer.   I think even Democrats will agree on that point.

Law Discussion

 Out in California, there's a draft bill circulating around, and discussion starting up.  It basically says (if passed), you as a land-lord must ask a tenet if they own guns, and if you purchase renter's insurance...that company....must ask the tenet if they own guns.  Then the two of them....must in some fashion....pass the info to the state gov't.

I sat and pondered over this.

Most people would probably not answer the question with either the landlord or the insurance company.  If it came up that they were found to have a gun?  Well....it'd trigger a police visit and likely confiscation of the gun, or even worse....getting kicked out of the house.

Would the insurance company charge more (eventually) for a guy who needs home-renter insurance, who has a gun....compared to the guy who does not have a gun?  I would imagine this trend would occur within five years.

What you should do?  Just say 'no', and keep the gun in your car/truck.  Or you could rent a storage unit with a gun locker.....keeping your hunting rifles/shotguns there....instead of the house.

Is it just making more trouble?  Oh, without any doubt.  I could see in two years....some state mandate....asking how many mowers you own, or how many dogs you own, or how many cellphones you actually own.

Could Artificial Intelligence (AI) Be A Jesus-Solution?

 Lets say you finally build AI, and on day one....you ask....how many genders are there?  AI answers....two.  

Because of the amount of trust you have....you now believe without any discussion...there are only two genders.

So you start asking all kinds stupid questions...finding that AI goes to the logical answer.

A year into this....you realize that woke-stuff is dissolving almost daily. 

Two years into existence, AI is now sending out personal letters/messages to losers....telling them to get a job and work for a living.  Your loser-daughter gets a message from AI....telling the 22-year old to move out of the house and get on with life.

AI eventually sends you a message....cut up the credit card, and avoid debt as much as possible.

AI will tell you that a $75,000 Ford F-150 pick-up isn't worth $75,000.....collapsing the entire industry.

Maybe this AI stuff fixes what is currently broke.

What If....Scenario After Polk Presidency

 I'm a map guy....I could spend hours each day looking at historical map.

This map?  It's what existed during the Presidency of Polk (1845-1949).

So you gaze at it....Mexico line? It goes 200 to 300 miles south of today's line.  

Yucatan?  Part of the US.

Cuba?  Part of the US.

Had things stayed the same?  You'd have five to six additional states today.

Condo Story

 I sat and read over this story here in the AM today (Sat).

Basically, you walked all the way from Peru....through the jungles of Panama, then bused up to Mexico where you crossed over, and those kind Texas folks put you on a bus to NY City.  Then that kind group of NY City folks up and gave you a luxury condo in Harlem?

I would be on the floor....thanking Jesus and God for all of the 'fairness' in life...leaving a mud-brick home on some hill, and getting such fine treatment in America.

Now, the Harlem long-term folks....the ones who've been there fifty years?  Oh, they have to be peeved big-time.

I just don't see the voting trend in November going to the Democrats in these big cities like NY City.

My Theory On Alien Extended Visitations

 I have probably five or six theories over the whole alien/UFO/UAP business, but I have sat and pondered a good bit on the visits, and why they continue.

Imagine that you are fairly advanced....maybe 1,000 to 10,000 years ahead of Earth.  You arrive on a ship with sixty alien associates, and the primary 'drive' for your civilization for the past 5,000 years....has been the art of studying things.  

So you arrive and on day one....find a spark plug.  It fascinates you and the folks onboard the ship.

You hand the spark plug to Gal-7 and Merv-4....PhD type aliens, and they spend over ten days analyzing the plug....how it was made....the materials used, and then write up a 40-page summary of the plug analyzed.

Another crew....Erg-4, Erg-3 and Yorg-1 go and find a box of pop-tarts.  They spend 12 days analyzing the box and contents.  They will eventually, after a week...come to a conclusion....yeah, it's junk food.  Then they write up a 25-page summary of the pop-tarts.

You see, the aliens are fixated on surveying things....taking them apart, and reverse-engineering them.  To be honest, they probably only intended to stay a week or two....but these crazy humans have made so many weird things....that they can't seem to find a way to exit Earth.

There's probably one whole team just for USB cables and trying to identify all of  the various types and purposes.  There's probably a team going over Alexa, and wondering how it works.  There's probably even a team trying to gather up 1,800 different fishing lures, and wrote a 1,500 page summary over the various types.

Yeah, they are simply consumed with passion....to study and define things.  Some of these folks will never leave Earth....because there's just too much to study.

After Reviewing This Atlanta Willis/Wade 'Theatrical-Show'

 Yeah, I admit....I've probably watched about four hours of the DA Fanni Willis business in the Atlanta court, and the questions posed to her boyfriend....hired-prosecutor Wade....the guy going after Trump on Georgia charges.

Four observations:

First, both are qualified for their jobs by the Georgia state bar association. But watching the talk an 'sense' of the two....I'm wondering how qualified the state bar association is....in testing and deeming people qualified for the profession.

Second, it just seems....every time that this guy Wade turned around and said he might hyped-up for a sexual romp....there had to be some money generated by Fanni Willis (minimum  of 1k in cash).  I'm mind-set to believe the other direction in things....like a guy having to pay $1k to a gal for a weekend romp....so this is a bit odd to me (a guy out of the 1970s).

Third, this idea of 'cash-is-king'....meaning you don't do bank transfers, credit cards, or keep your money 'safe' (in a bank).....is portrayed as a black 'thing'. To be honest, most rural people (black or white) tend to think in this mentality.  You can go into some rural county of Alabama and ask a hundred white guys about their credit card use....with more than half telling you they don't have such a card. Then they open up some pocket in their jacket.....showing  $16,000 in cash.  The same guy will admit to some safe in the barn with $40,000 in cash, and hidden under his tractor seat is a bag with a dozen gold coins worth $20,000.  

Fourth, this judge is stuck with a mess.  Both the prosecutor (Wade) and his 'boss' (Fanni Willis) have dug an extra big hole that cannot be readily explained.  Movement of campaign funds to a personal pocket of cash?  That was something that Willis should not have admitted to in court.  If you disqualify Wade at this point....then what?  Can you just bring in a new prosecutor?  

All of this drama making the state of Georgia look like some 3rd world country?  Well....yeah.  I even have to admit....with the thick Georgia accent that Willis has....there were various times that I had to halt the video and run it a second time....to understand what she said. 

The Problem With Geography Knowledge

 As a kid in rural Alabama schools....I often felt 'blessed' with each geography/history class having a big US and world map.   Now, if you'd asked me of the 25-odd kids in the group....did kids have trouble with assembling where things were?  Oh yeah...probably a quarter of kids just could not handle maps, or names of countries/states.

I was reminded of this from yesterday....watching the Willis/Wade court episode from Atlanta.  Wade showed some geography knowledge....Ms Willis?  Near zero.

I agree....some folks are making it through fifty years of life, with marginal knowledge of geography.  If you mentioned some trip that your church-friend went on, and asked what states they went through....it's fifty-fifty if they can cite that answer.

Is this a big deal?  No.  It's like lawn mower maintenance knowledge....you don't need 100-percent of people or for that matter even 10-percent of people with such knowledge. But you probably need 2-percent of folks to preserve such knowledge.  

Did it make Willis look stupid?  There's probably ten questions that she fumbled through.  The camera didn't really catch the judge, but I would imagine he was mostly shaking his head.

Seven Observations

 1.  I sat and watched the Atlanta Q-and-A with the judge and Fanni Willis/Nathan Wade 'show' from yesterday.  

Seems to be a lot of money that kept getting handed over....in cash.  Maybe it was all OK with taxation....but you just start to wonder about that.

As for the 'show'?  It just felt like a Jerry Springer show.  

2.  Some Brit I noticed yesterday....used the term 'non-transgender-women' (NTW)....in referring to regular ordinary women.  I guess 'NTW' will start to turn into a normal phrase.

3.  There's about 20 occasions per day.....when I'm looking at social media, the news, various podcasts, or social media.....then I'm thinking...is this a parody?  For about 10 seconds....I'll feel this way, then realize....NO, it's not a parody, but it ought to be one.

4. If you'd asked me to gage people in the 1980s to 'today' (presently) on rage....I have to admit we just didn't seem to have rage existing in the 1980s.  Today?  It seems like every 30 minutes...I notice someone on social media or TV....in rage.

5.  I was sitting yesterday and watching business news.  They got to this odd topic.....job growth over the past two or three months.  Statistical data?  Well....the only plus-up....seems to be migrant-hired folks (cheap labor).  Beyond that, it's just awful flat.  I'm not sure all this positive chatter that the President does....really matters.

6.  Back in January....in Kansas....the bronze statue of Jackie Robinson was stolen.  So the cops found it.  The guy who stole it?  Well....Latino guy who wanted cash.  For all that chatter that came ten days after the statue was found missing.....now?  They can't really discuss finding the statue because it doesn't fit the narrative.

7.  Gen Z folks were polled....half of them say they trust AI more than their boss.

Chatter

 I saw this today, and pondered upon it for an hour.

Thirty years ago....I would not really have offered a suggestion. Today?  

The NFL?  Well....yeah, it's become somewhat cult-like.  Some parts of the game now seem rigged...to get the right teams to the championship.  Plus the dual national anthem (regular and black) seem to rather cult-like.

Politics?  Yeah....since Bush-Gore....I'd say it's cult-like.

Woke conversations?  Yeah, that's cult-like.

Churches with all kinds of extra gimmicks?  Yeah, that's cult-like.

Imaginary racism?  Yeah, that's cult-like.

Intellectuals pretending to be intellectuals...when they aren't?  Yeah, that's cult-like.

Funny how this has developed.

Five Humble Thoughts

 1.  To be honest, I don't have much again old guys with sharp memories....like Warren Buffet, Physicist William Happer, or Newt Gringrich.  It's when you drag in Joe Biden, and you get some 3-minute lecture that seems to convincing you that he's lost.  

In the case of Happer or Buffet....I can sit for an entire hour and enjoy their lecture.

2.  Maybe Biden doesn't grasp it....but the border and migrants....probably has moved up to issue number one for the November election.  I'm not sure how replacing him....resolves this issue.

3.  Ignorant people now believe (without much doubt) that California is the envy of the nation.

We should buy each of these folks a $129 Greyhound ticket and let them spend a month there.

4.  Some Democrats in the House are fixing up something called the Hip Hop Task Force....to use the power of hip hop....to bring racial equity to America.

Probably some kind of conference to be held in Las Vegas....to get matters started up.

5.  I read somewhere today....Iran says some part of the South Pole....belongs to them, and they will be staging a 'team' there....to open up a settlement.

I give the 'team' about 8 hours upon arriving....deciding it's not workable. 

I Tried To Make Sense Out Of This

 The US gov't collected statistical data of folks who want to trans themselves.  Female-to-male and male-to-female.

So in the younger category (16-17)....it's 80-percent female-to-male.  

Then each generation group that follows...the males pop up higher.  By mid-20s....male-to-female has a high number, and by mid-50s....it's like 90-percent male-to-female.

So....why?

And the big question....why does interest in female-to-male transiting peak out by age 24?  

Food Chatter

 I had to stop in at a airport in the US in the mid-1990s....a four-hour delay to catch the last leg.  

Meal-time came up and I ended up walking into a grill-shop.  The burger-fries plate?  At that point in time....it was around $17.90 for the plate and soda.  If you did the inflation scale today....it'd be around $32.  

Being a E6 at the time....I kinda freaked but realized....there's nothing much on options.  

About 10 years would pass, and I was stuck in NY City overnight, and wanted breakfast (Roosevelt Hotel)....which was to be $32 (included coffee).  Today, that would be near $47.  Yeah, I paid it.  

Today, I was reading a piece  where a California Senator-to-be is talking of a $50 an hour wage scale for burger-flippers.  Doing the math for a BK double-whopper menu dinner (soda included)....I figure it'd cost me around $70 for dinner (figure tax included).

It is to the point where I'd probably only travel with a lunch-box....maybe some cookies and a apple or two....to survive for a trip.

The Paths We Take Essay

 As a kid attending 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade science classes in rural Alabama in the early 1970s....under Ms 'Hilda'....I was pretty set to be the C-minus kid.  

In the same era (4 year period).....I had four different math teachers....who were all 'losers' in getting the topic across. I generally averaged a C-minus through the  whole period.

I changed schools, and in the early 12th grade....the test folks came from the military and figure out our 'capabilities.  This was the ASVAB tests.

So this odd thing happened....in the area of general science (GS),  arithmetic reasoning (AR), mathematics knowledge (MK), and electronic information (EI)....I was around 50 points ahead of the general average.

In the area of General technical (GT)...with word knowledge (WK), paragraph comprehension (PC), and arithmetic reasoning (AR).....I was 40 points ahead of the general average.

In the area of Mechanical maintenance (MM)....with auto and shop information (AS), mechanical comprehension (MC), and electronic information (EI).....I pretty much maxed out.  

So getting into the Air Force wasn't an issue.

But there is this odd story which falls into play.  

I left the farm on 1 August 1977, and about two weeks after this....a recruitment letter came from the Navy.  They wanted me to call and talk to a particular recruiter....offering nuclear operations.  My mom kept the letter around but I didn't really see the letter for five or six years.

After reading the letter....I paused over this.  Me?  The kid with a C-minus science situation and marginally passing math for the mid-years of high school....being recruited for nuclear reactor training and duty?  For several years, I was mostly amused over where this would have led onto.

If the Navy had sent this note the month before I signed up with the Air Force?  Would I have been 'crazy' enough to talk to this recruitment guy and get tangled up into some kind of nuclear  'duty' and go off to the Navy?  The kid with dismal grades in science and math?

I worked with a guy who had this extreme of 'timing' being everything.  He believed entire paths of life....led somewhere, but it was on the timing of events that mattered.  

If I had avoided the science teacher (Ms Hilda) or had some decent math instructor...who knows?

China Agent Scheme?

 Yesterday, I noticed someone made a comment/question off social media....talking about these Chinese guys walking up from South America....through Panama, and heading toward the US border.

So they brought up that even if you use 'best-guess' estimates of the border patrol....there's probably 20,000 either in the US or heading....they went to this odd topic.

The topic?  The Pentagon is now desperate for folks and likely to bring up by early 2025....a offer to recruit non-Americans (migrants) and put some citizenship deal on the table (you do four years of duty, and we give you US citizenship).

So the chatter went to this....what prevents the CCP (Chinese government) from sending 50,000 young men over and getting them all into the US military (with clearances) and being long-term Manchurian-Candidate 'players'?

I sat there for a while pondering over this.

In the 1980s....1990s....we would not have been this stupid to engage in some weird crap like this.

Today?  I'm pretty convinced that it wouldn't take much to sell 50-plus Senators on the idea (bribes go a long way) and the US Army would literally beg to fill billets (even with IQ-disqualified folks).

This trek by the Chinese guys designed to fill the US Army billets?  Well....it's crazy but I have to admit it makes perfect sense.

Bag Story

 I spent a few minutes this AM reading over this California story.

A bag tax was implemented and they figured that this would cure the ills of people (they did the same thing here in Germany).

So the success story?  From what the state figures....plastic bag use went up by 30-percent.

I can say from a German prospective....two curious things happened to make this less-plastic agenda fail.

First, the tax was aimed at thin-plastic bags...so grocery store went to a heavy-grade plastic to sell people on the idea of re-use.  The heavy-grade bag...isn't taxed, but folks still throw them away at the end.

Second, folks eventually got smart and went to Ebay and Amazon....to buy bulk box form plastic bags.  They will walk into a shop with five or six bags....their own purchase....avoiding the tax and agenda entirely.

In a way, it's kinda funny how problems were going to be fixed, and just got you deeper into a mess.

Intellectual BS

 I tried to read and grasp this opinion essay that appeared out of the NY Times.  After about 60 seconds, I had to put the article down....feeling that the person writing this....had the mentality of a 12-year old kid (not a neuroscientist).

I've reached the point where I suspect out of a hundred people who want to portray themselves as intellectuals....university-degreed...probably a quarter of the groups are not capable of independent thought or capable of any type of analysis.

I don't know if they finished high school with this mental defect, or that college just made them more stupid....but it's a simmering problem.

Trying to see Biden in some age discussion?  No, this was wrong to say only old people are diminished.  I'm at the point of suggesting that 20-year old folks have competency problems....just as much, and even 12-year old kids are diminished in some ways.

Money Dysmorphia?

 I had to look the phrase up.

Its when you have a fake or distorted view of your personal finances.

You could be making $6,000 a month on take-home pay, and be under some mindset that it won't work....that you are broke.

Sitting and thinking about this feeling.....when I was a E-1 in the Air Force...bringing in $300 a month.....I just never felt this way.

The ideal that you make 6-figures income, and you marginally make it...yearly?  Yep....same deal.

Some folks have been polling the public for several years and report this as a major problem now...folks claiming $150,000 is just 'poor'.

How would you recover from this 'illness'?  I'm not sure.  Maybe you could get folks onto some 3-month recovery situation...surviving off $100 a week, and realizing that even $3,000 a month is not 'poor'.

Washing Feet Propaganda?

I had zero interest in watching the Super Bowl from last night (I haven't watched a single NFL game since early 2013).  But I ended up watching a couple of the commercials from  the game.

So the one that 'poked' interest in me?  This Christian theme campaign ‘He Gets Us’. The basic sales job?  Christians washing people’s feet.  

AI-creation....an alcoholic getting his feet washed by a Christian....a migrant getting his feet washed....gay guy getting his feet washed....an activist of some  type getting his feet washed.

All of this is to convey that you will accept them and show Christian acceptance.

So I sat and pondered.

Since 16 December 1620....when the first real settlement folks arrived in Amercia...no one has been bathing anyone's feet.  Washington didn't bath anyone's feet.  Folks crossing the prairie....didn't bath anyone's feet.  Guys going off in 1917 to France for the war...didn't bath anyone's feet.  In the midst of the depression era....no one bathed anyone's feet.  To get two guys on the moon.....no one bathed anyone's feet.  In the midst of the 2008 economic spiral....no one brought up bathing someone's feet.

What I found interesting is that they had to do this via Artificial Intelligence (AI)....since a real scene could not be conveyed.

A propaganda piece?  Well....on my index of propaganda-developed crap....it's marginally a '5' (1-to-10).  

On the Jesus-factor?  As much as the Bible lays out the story....Jesus does go and offer up a foot-wash as being neighborly.....however, in a slanted way....Jesus is saying while in the act....you screwed-up....you did some folks wrong, and sinned yourself into a hole.  I'm absolving you of the guilt, but I'm not condoning what you did.  

This commercial being mostly thought-provoking?  I would imagine next Sunday....probably a quarter of all ministers will attempt to work this into their sermon (mostly out of desperation of material for a 30-minute sermon).  Most guys sitting there....will be thinking over what kind of heavy-duty soap would Jesus use in modern-day foot-bathing.  Most women will be thinking over modern-day foot bathing and what kind of Hydrogen Peroxide that Wal-Mart has on sale (preferring the extra strength stuff to get rid of 'stinky-foot').  

Pardon me....if I don't buy into this BS.

How Far We've Fallen

 I sat and spent about 15 minutes reading this story out of Canada....probably doing a 2nd and 3rd read.

First, it's not the regular police....it' the transit police.

Second, they admit they have a sexual assault (no doubt about that).

Third, they have a person as a suspect, but they can't reach a conclusion whether the person is male or female.....EVEN with semen evidence in some bag.

Ten years ago?  Same crew....same scenario....same semen....it would have been a 10-second conclusion about the male-female business.  Today?  No....they can't reach such a conclusion.

It's just another example how stupid people have gotten.  In another ten years....whether the person is black or 'other'.....will be non-conclusive.  

Q-and-A

 1.  Do I believe Michelle Obama is 'qualified' for the Presidency?

She is as qualified as 99-percent of American society...meaning your local gas station clerk, your choir-director at the church, your burger-flipper niece, the neighbor with $88,000 in college debt, the septic tank salesman, or the one-eyed Veterinarian that you take your dog for his shots.

The problem is....how would sell such a person with a 3 x 5 inch index-card resume?  Plus you have to go and convince people that the past four years with President Biden were a magnificent success....because of his 4-page resume and selling Michelle Obama in the same way.

2.  Is all this Biden-cognitive chatter....pushing people to ask more questions about their own relatives?

Well....yeah.  And in some cases....the target-person, upon realizing his relatives are pro-cognitive testing.....ought to be (themselves) cognitive tested.

3.  KFC 12-piece chicken bucket....now $30 (with tax figured)?

Yeah, and guys over the age of sixty are shaking their heads because they remember when it was $12.  

But here's the thing....by 2030....that 12-piece bucket will likely be close to $45.  

4.  Florida driver's license rules changed in the past week....where you can't use more than 2 genders.  

Oddly, this got a fair number of folks disturbed....who suggest their lives were 'determined' in some way.....with the extra gender rules.   It's hard to imagine....one single card....with incredibly small font...with a extra letter or two....made people complete.  

My Theory On Significant Numbers Of Chinese Men Crossing Into Panama And Onto The US?

 Just a theory of mine.

The only thing making money presently in China is Fentanyl production and sales.  Shocker?

So, these guys have figured out.....why only produce and deliver to some logistical group in Mexico?  Why can't they be maker, distributor, logistical movement around the US, and be the sales people as well?  All in one.

I think China hub gave this some thought, and figured....we  can get 40,000 Chinese men into the US by mid-summer 2024.  We can set up over 300 hubs around the US.  We can get another hundred-thousand men there by early 2025....to  be salesmen on the street.

We can double production....double distribution....taking out all of the cartel action on Fentanyl.

We can buy silence with city and county prosecutors.

So, it would make sense....bring in the hub crew....get ready for expansion, and own everything from production to sales.   

Three Things

 1.  I was offered one single chance to join up with a DC gov't employee 'union' back in 2010.  There were a dozen of us new hires in the room, and NOT one single person was interested. 

I noticed this graph today....going back to 1990....almost 20-percent of people were union members.  Now?  It's down to 10-percent, and I would imagine by 2030....it'll be near 5-percent.  

Adding to the spiral?  Well...folks used to be hand-cuffed by the union to vote along union 'picks', and that has been lost as well.

2.  I sat and watched this AM...one of those stupid videos of a 22-year old gal....finished with college and hired-up somewhere (never saying where or with what company).....all miserable and extremely negative about life.

In an average week....I probably watch five of these.  Generally....always a female, and always in the age group of 21 to 25.

It's always a passionate moment....lost on enthusiasm....dwelling on the terrible life they are living.  The pay is never enough.....they don't have time for friends...they seek fulfillment but can't find it.

I feel like taking them out to the hay field in August, and letting them spend a day at 95-degree F....hauling hay and getting this miserable feeling transformed.  

3.  Each day that passes.....it feels like propaganda-A, propaganda-B, or propaganda-C is being fed to me.  It'd be nice to delete the news entirely, and just watch the Three Stooges or some Japanese monster movie.