A Whats App Story

This is a true story, and you might be amused by it.  I told this about six years ago, and about once a year....it pops into my mind.  

So it's mostly about 'Ms X', who is a 53-year old woman.....three times married, and currently with husband three.  I should note, she has a cellphone and uses What App a good bit.

So, X had health issues, and the doctors finally came up to say she had cancer....stage one, and in a resolvable state.  She's sent in the local area to meet Doctor So-V-So.  He's a young guy (early 30s), intelligent, and knows a good bit about uterus cancer (what she had).

Treatment starts up.

A lot of one-on-one conversations.  X was worried about her 'abilities' after treatment, and Doctor So-V-So got really into this topic and discussed it at length.

For whatever reason.....X felt that the doctor was going to the next level....'real friendly'.  We are talking about secret relations 'friendly'.

X handed Doctor So-V-So her cellphone number.

A week later, someone sends X some text via Whats App, and she thinks it's Doctor So-V-So.

Over the next five months, this hot-flash impluse thing starts up, and X is all fired up to have an affair with Doctor So-V-So.

Well....here's the thing.....that text?  Well....it wasn't from Doctor So-V-So.  It was from some guy who'd mistakenly sent her number a text.

As each day passed in this five month period....she was fantasizing a minimum of five hours a day on dumping her husband, and running off with Doctor So-V-So.

Remember, not a single word or text came from the real Doctor So-V-So.  And to be honest, from this mistaken guy.....I doubt if there were more than five text messages exchanged, with limited dialog.  He just didn't realize the mistake that started this.

Then one day, all of this fantasizing reached some peak, and she sent some long extended chat to the phone, and the mistaken guy gets this whole blunt message about him 'toying' with her.  He comments back to her.....well, he ain't Doctor So-V-So.

So begins to unravel this whole secret fantasy situation via Whats App.  The fact that she was entertaining 'firing' her husband and easily running off with someone else who she'd never even had a drink with or lusty moment in bed? 

Five to six months of this, and it comes to some abrupt end, without a real ending.  Just all an illusion. 

Would make a great five-star script for a movie. 

Four Things

 1.  If Trump goes to a fresh new Census?

I would imagine Congress/the Senate....would deny any funding.  However, if Trump performs the Census with postal employees, and avoids the cost....there will be some lawsuit to arrive at the Supreme Court. 

So here's the odd factor....lets say the Census is done (by alternate means) and the count says nationally (avoiding illegals)....is 26-million LESS.  It begs the question....does this screw with all 50 states, and massively with redrawing districts in all fifty for 2029/2030?  

I do agree....Texas and California will both lose districts, and this re-drawing will turn into a civil conflict for the courts to handle in 2030.  I'd also agree...the ONLY topic for the 2032 election will be this effect forced upon the nation.

2.  When you ask Grok (the AI on Twitter) a question....it's only examining reports and coming to a balanced decision.  'Best guess' is the product in  the end.  Frankly, you can ask a 12-year old kid, and get the same answer.

3.  I think it would be helpful if you took all 17-year-old kids....tazed them...forced them into a jail-house for 48 hours, and made them rough-camp for a week in some wilderness....to demonstrate civilization and it's values.

4.  If you finished high school, and were tested on stupidity.....repeating the test five years later....how many people would improve their stupidity score (getting more stupid)?  Five percent?  Ten percent?

Harris On Colbert's Show

 This week, I went and viewed the 25-odd minute 'talk' of Kamala Harris on Colbert's show.  Four observations:

1.  On my goofy-index for a chat....1-to-10....it hits 8-to-9 for most of the whole show.  If you asked me if she was on some tranquillizer or had a wine or two prior....I'd say I had that impression.

2.  In some way, I felt sorry for her....these type of interviews don't effectively work.

3.  For comedy show value (like comparing to Leno or Carson)....I can't really give Colbert any high marks.  Maybe viewers wanted to see a goofy Harris moment for 25 minutes....but the majority of folks would flip the channel to soccer, cooking with hot spices, or Mission Impossible episodes from 1970.

4.  Finally, if you asked me if Harris was potentially a candidate for California governor after watching this....I'd say NO.  After eight years of goofy Newsom....most are looking for someone who seems less drugged-up or fake-witty.

Dead-Guy Politics

I wrote this essay back in November 2013, and it's pretty much still accurate today.

It's often hard to be an American....occasionally explaining to some German or sorts....on how we had an election in some town, and the dead candidate won.  It's even harder....to explain how dozens, perhaps hundreds, and maybe even thousands of dead folks vote in regular elections.

This week (Nov 2013)....based on news reports....there's at least two candidates for small-time offices who won, yet they are dead (passed-on, as we say in Bama).

Yeah, the voters knew it.  This had been printed up in the regional newspapers, and if you read them.....you'd know that "Joe" was dead.  The general problem is that no one in either party wants to invent some rule where the political party steps in and selects a last-minute replacement....who immediately loses the race.

Naturally, there are rules where the dead guy can't occupy the office....so the county commission, the mayor, the governor....etc....picks some temporary replacement, and they run up another election in less than twelve months.

Dead-guy politics are difficult to figure out.  If there's a week left in the election....it's hard for any newspaper to come up and criticize a dead guy, his record, or his personal habits (boozing it up, gambling in Vegas, trailer-trashy women, missing neighbors, bar fights, corruption, real estate deals with fake companies, etc).

Once you are passed-on as a political candidate....it's pretty clear sailing.  Even your opponent can't say much against you.

Politics usually involves flip-flopping around....course, for a dead guy running for office, there's no more flip-flopping.  Positions are iron-tight at this point.

You'd think a third-party candidate would suddenly get a bunch of votes, and things might get more interesting, but that never happens.

So onward goes an American tradition.  Dead-guys can win an election.  Dead voters can determine close elections.  And it's all part of being a Republic....sadly.

Derangement Syndrome...How Many Versions Exist?

 I started counting:

Lincoln Derangement Syndrome (1861–1865)

Grant Derangement Syndrome (1869–1877)

Hayes Derangement Syndrome (1877–1881)

Garfield Derangement Syndrome (1881)

Arthur Derangement Syndrome (1881–1885)

Harrison Derangement Syndrome (1889–1893)

McKinley Derangement Syndrome (1897–1901)

Roosevelt Derangement Syndrome (1901–1909)

Taft Derangement Syndrome (1909–1913)

Harding Derangement Syndrome (1921–1923)

Coolidge Derangement Syndrome (1923–1929)

Hoover Derangement Syndrome (1929–1933)

Eisenhower Derangement Syndrome (1953–1961), although I should stress...this was awful mild

Nixon Derangement Syndrome (1969–1974)

Ford Derangement Syndrome (1974–1977)

Reagan Derangement Syndrome (1981–1989)

Bush Derangement Syndrome (1989–1993)

Bush II Derangement Syndrome (2001–2009)

Trump Derangement Syndrome (2017–2021, 2025–present)....most severe but second to Lincoln Derangement Syndrome

Yes, 19 DS's.  Note, I didn't count prior to Lincoln, and I marginally consider EDS (Ike DS) to exist.  If I ranked the top three.....LDS, NDS, and TDS.  B2DS would be 4th.  

Why they seem to get more intense?  Mostly because of the news media, and inability to win elections for the Democratic candidate.

The True Cost of a Vegas Hotel Room

 It used to be a simple deal....$99 room, with a local sales tax in the 10-percent range...meaning it was $108 room.  So presently?

Clark County tax, 13.38-percent.

Destination or Amenity Fees: Range of $20 to $55 per night.  What it covers?  Wi-fi, pool access, etc.

Sales tax: 8.25-percent

Parking fee:  if you drove....figure a minimum of $5 per day....on up to $20 a day.  A handful of hotels have zero charge.

Utility tax: a handful of hotels are charging around $3.95 per day.

Where the county tax leads to?  Well....to get the  baseball park project up and running....they needed cash flow, and some of that tax leads to that (not all).

I'll just say....around the US, for 'nice' hotel deals....the rooms tend to run $150 to $200 now.  Vegas is attempting to keep the $99 vision alive, but the fees and taxes are simply hiding the full-cost. 

I'd also say that recession is in the minds of people, and gambling for three days....isn't a plus-up on most folks. 

I hate to  say it.....but if you added flight cost, hotel, food, beverages, and 'fun-money'....you could fly into Turkey...stay at a beach resort 5-star...get breakfast/dinner with drinks as a package for the same cost (if this were a 7-day situation).  Yeah, it is cheap booze, and it's a bit unique to chill-out in Turkey.