I spend a fair amount of time each week (since in early retirement) focusing business, politics, chaos, and technology news.
Out of this....probably one-third of what I view or read.....is more of a lecture, than practical reporting. It doesn't matter, if you are talking Brit news, the US scene, or even here in Germany. A lot of individuals are hyped to lecture you.....feeling it's their 'duty' (where they got this idea.....I have no idea).
The problem for these folks is that I dig into the topic area, and usually out with forty-odd facts, and the lecture for me....is basically that of a 5th-grade kid trying to explain to me nuclear physics, but never actually touching on anything related to physics. Their hint.....it's all bad, so I shouldn't ever jump into anything nuclear-related.
Maybe in my thirties and forties.....I might have sat for an hour to listen to the lecture, and try to grasp all of the insider information. To be truthful about me at this point.....I don't have the patience anymore to sit for lectures.
The lectures from the Fridays for the Future 'kid'? Sorry, you need more life experience before you come around and try to lecture me.
The lectures on diesel cars being evil? You were the idiot trying to lecture me forty years ago that we all needed cars which got 50 miles-per-gallon, and basically.....the diesel guys were the only ones who could deliver your expectation.
The lectures on wind-mill generator energy? Once you said they were 'evil' because they killed all these birds.....I kinda started laughing.
The lectures on kids being stupid to borrow $100,000 to get a college education, and then being shocked at age forty that they were still owing massive debt? I saw through all those lectures from day one on.
The lectures on intellectual folks being the only ones who you should allow to run governments? It was a funny argument from day one on.
The lectures simply went on and on.
So my advice.....once you reach my stage, don't waste time....flip the channel over to reruns of Flipper, or watch the 1937 movie 'Lost Horizon', or walk the dog an extra hour today. The lecture simply isn't worth the time or effort.
Saturday, 25 April 2020
On CNN
Someone brought up a comment on 'CNN having credibility' recently, and the talk went to the 1990s.
It's hard to imagine but as you went from the late 1980s, into the mid-1990s....CNN had respect....dignity.....honor....and recognition.
You could have turned on Larry King and gotten a decent four-star interview. You could have viewed some ongoing situation where they actually didn't go to find experts.....they just let the camera run and let things unfold from witnesses on the scene.
Today? I sit and have the finger on the 'mute-button' and attempt to view CNN until they bring in the 'experts'. The mute goes on and I wait until they reach the next story.
The big boss of AT&T is supposed to be leaving shortly, and some suggest that as the new guy arrives....he might go and put CNN up for sale. Profitability? I doubt if CNN has turned any real profit for the past six to eight years. The possibility that some Chinese unit will end up buying CNN? It wouldn't really shock me.
It's hard to imagine but as you went from the late 1980s, into the mid-1990s....CNN had respect....dignity.....honor....and recognition.
You could have turned on Larry King and gotten a decent four-star interview. You could have viewed some ongoing situation where they actually didn't go to find experts.....they just let the camera run and let things unfold from witnesses on the scene.
Today? I sit and have the finger on the 'mute-button' and attempt to view CNN until they bring in the 'experts'. The mute goes on and I wait until they reach the next story.
The big boss of AT&T is supposed to be leaving shortly, and some suggest that as the new guy arrives....he might go and put CNN up for sale. Profitability? I doubt if CNN has turned any real profit for the past six to eight years. The possibility that some Chinese unit will end up buying CNN? It wouldn't really shock me.
Simply Observations
1. Should medical advice only come from a doctor, and not from the President of the United States?
Given the current situation, I think in future elections, we should only elect medical school graduates, veterinarians, dentists, and rodeo-riders. Then we'd all be happy over their medical advice. Note, it always seems because of injuries and horse woes, rodeo-riders seem to know a good bit on health aspects. Course, considering all of this.....President Hillary in this case would have offered medical advice, and what would you have done with her?
2. Did 94-percent of all New Yorkers who died from Covid-19.....have secondary conditions?
Yep. A review was done and reported via the NY Post. If you had lived a pretty healthy life (greens, salad, no fats, exercise, etc).....you would have done OK.
But the next question is this.....how many New Yorkers live unhealthy? Might be curious to know that part of the story.
3. Did bin Laden actually say that he wanted to kill Obama.....to bring a weak Joe Biden into the Presidency?
Information from the secret villa says that. How bin Laden came to this analysis is not known. Maybe he was watching Fox News, and it just hit him one day that Joe wasn't that capable.
4. What kind of disinfectant should one consume, with Trump's advice?
Believe it or not.....gin is a fine disinfectant, and I'd mix it with a good sour mix. Three shots per glass. I'd call it Trumpfectant.
Oh, I should add....it doesn't do much for the Coronavirus.
5. This crazy idea (voiced by Trump)....'injecting' UV/sunlight directly into your veins....crazy?
Well....probably. But there's this thing to think about. Bats are where this virus came from, and bats hate the the sunlight. I can see some PhD guy standing there and just wondering....if you put some UV down into you (like the lungs)....what would happen to the virus? Who knows....it might be that crazy, and everyone starts getting dragged into some clinic for a 30-minute procedure of UV if their test says positive.
6. Is there some crazy connection between opioids and the Wuhan situation?
You have to be amused by this....Wuhan was the center-point of production for all opioids in the world. The various compounds and ingredients, with the right production people....all in this twenty-mile circle. Even the LA Times is talking about this massive problem now (no production).
So fentanyl is not getting produced? No one is saying a 100-percent work-stoppage. But the hint here is that the gangs are now in a crazy period, and whatever was going on in Wuhan.....with the police establishing a no-exit situation....has lessened the supply around the world. Since the no-exit business went down two weeks ago? Not much is said.
7. Is there any kind of real resume for Stacey Abrams....the likely VP candidate for Joe Biden?
I usually make jokes out of losers running for office with a 7-line resume (enough to put on a 3x5 inch card). In her case (Abrams).....she probably has a 12-line resume, which is slightly better than most losers.
After college, she did go and be a tax-lawyer for charity operations....keeping the IRS off their butt. She also set up a legal-consulting firm.
Back in 2002, she became a deputy-lawyer for the city of Atlanta. Five years after that....she became state assembly representative. From 2010 to 2017, you can find a dozen-odd things within the state assembly job that she pushed or led on.
On qualifications to be a Vice-President....from the past twenty years of various characters....she'd at least be in the middle of the group (not at the end as the 7-line loser type).
But here's the odd factor....she's never won an office higher than state assembly representative...ever. State prosecutor? No. Governor? No. House or Senate situation? No. If you lined up all of the people for the past hundred years who'd run as a VP candidate.....she's the weakest of them all. If it were not for the news media situation that we have now.....no one outside of the state would know her.
8. Are dead people actually getting removed from the 'dead by Coroniavirus' listing?
Well....yeah. At least in the state of Penn. All that is said is that some folks came up and identified some 200-odd people....who were mostly dead from 'something else' (heart attacks, etc).
It is a bit confusing. Maybe the bigger question to ask....if they are dead....are they still registered to vote in some way?
9. Are we having a problem with rudeness?
People will say that there is a 'norm', and that we've exceeded the 'norm' by a good bit in this modern time. To be honest though.....people were disrespectful in the 1990s....the 1980s....etc.
Maybe it's a pretender status thing where for a brief hour or so.....we pretend to be nice, when the rudeness thing is brewing heavily upon us.
10. Any truth to the rumor that this Brit guy....Christopher Steele, who wrote the Trump dossier....deleted all of his reference material?
This past week, Steele admitted....bluntly....that he'd deleted all reference material back in January of 2017. Reason? Nothing much is offered. So anything that could explain the details, how they were found, or dates of discovery.....simply don't exist. Value of the dossier at this point? On a scale of one to ten.....probably a minus-10.
There's no reason for the FBI to even maintain a copy of the dossier, or for any news organization to even bring it up at this point. It's like it never existed. Pretty funny in a way. The dossier that never was....even in the first place.
Given the current situation, I think in future elections, we should only elect medical school graduates, veterinarians, dentists, and rodeo-riders. Then we'd all be happy over their medical advice. Note, it always seems because of injuries and horse woes, rodeo-riders seem to know a good bit on health aspects. Course, considering all of this.....President Hillary in this case would have offered medical advice, and what would you have done with her?
2. Did 94-percent of all New Yorkers who died from Covid-19.....have secondary conditions?
Yep. A review was done and reported via the NY Post. If you had lived a pretty healthy life (greens, salad, no fats, exercise, etc).....you would have done OK.
But the next question is this.....how many New Yorkers live unhealthy? Might be curious to know that part of the story.
3. Did bin Laden actually say that he wanted to kill Obama.....to bring a weak Joe Biden into the Presidency?
Information from the secret villa says that. How bin Laden came to this analysis is not known. Maybe he was watching Fox News, and it just hit him one day that Joe wasn't that capable.
4. What kind of disinfectant should one consume, with Trump's advice?
Believe it or not.....gin is a fine disinfectant, and I'd mix it with a good sour mix. Three shots per glass. I'd call it Trumpfectant.
Oh, I should add....it doesn't do much for the Coronavirus.
5. This crazy idea (voiced by Trump)....'injecting' UV/sunlight directly into your veins....crazy?
Well....probably. But there's this thing to think about. Bats are where this virus came from, and bats hate the the sunlight. I can see some PhD guy standing there and just wondering....if you put some UV down into you (like the lungs)....what would happen to the virus? Who knows....it might be that crazy, and everyone starts getting dragged into some clinic for a 30-minute procedure of UV if their test says positive.
6. Is there some crazy connection between opioids and the Wuhan situation?
You have to be amused by this....Wuhan was the center-point of production for all opioids in the world. The various compounds and ingredients, with the right production people....all in this twenty-mile circle. Even the LA Times is talking about this massive problem now (no production).
So fentanyl is not getting produced? No one is saying a 100-percent work-stoppage. But the hint here is that the gangs are now in a crazy period, and whatever was going on in Wuhan.....with the police establishing a no-exit situation....has lessened the supply around the world. Since the no-exit business went down two weeks ago? Not much is said.
7. Is there any kind of real resume for Stacey Abrams....the likely VP candidate for Joe Biden?
I usually make jokes out of losers running for office with a 7-line resume (enough to put on a 3x5 inch card). In her case (Abrams).....she probably has a 12-line resume, which is slightly better than most losers.
After college, she did go and be a tax-lawyer for charity operations....keeping the IRS off their butt. She also set up a legal-consulting firm.
Back in 2002, she became a deputy-lawyer for the city of Atlanta. Five years after that....she became state assembly representative. From 2010 to 2017, you can find a dozen-odd things within the state assembly job that she pushed or led on.
On qualifications to be a Vice-President....from the past twenty years of various characters....she'd at least be in the middle of the group (not at the end as the 7-line loser type).
But here's the odd factor....she's never won an office higher than state assembly representative...ever. State prosecutor? No. Governor? No. House or Senate situation? No. If you lined up all of the people for the past hundred years who'd run as a VP candidate.....she's the weakest of them all. If it were not for the news media situation that we have now.....no one outside of the state would know her.
8. Are dead people actually getting removed from the 'dead by Coroniavirus' listing?
Well....yeah. At least in the state of Penn. All that is said is that some folks came up and identified some 200-odd people....who were mostly dead from 'something else' (heart attacks, etc).
It is a bit confusing. Maybe the bigger question to ask....if they are dead....are they still registered to vote in some way?
9. Are we having a problem with rudeness?
People will say that there is a 'norm', and that we've exceeded the 'norm' by a good bit in this modern time. To be honest though.....people were disrespectful in the 1990s....the 1980s....etc.
Maybe it's a pretender status thing where for a brief hour or so.....we pretend to be nice, when the rudeness thing is brewing heavily upon us.
10. Any truth to the rumor that this Brit guy....Christopher Steele, who wrote the Trump dossier....deleted all of his reference material?
This past week, Steele admitted....bluntly....that he'd deleted all reference material back in January of 2017. Reason? Nothing much is offered. So anything that could explain the details, how they were found, or dates of discovery.....simply don't exist. Value of the dossier at this point? On a scale of one to ten.....probably a minus-10.
There's no reason for the FBI to even maintain a copy of the dossier, or for any news organization to even bring it up at this point. It's like it never existed. Pretty funny in a way. The dossier that never was....even in the first place.
Friday, 24 April 2020
The Hype to Get At Trump's Tax Returns
For 3.5 years, this has lingered around, and it probably deserves some pondering, and reasoning. So I'll offer the seven observations:
1. If New York state tax revenue people, and the IRS ever felt his submissions.....for over fifty years, were screwed-up, they would go and take an audit. If they have finished up an audit.....he would have been given the 'paperwork' to pay his bill, and been dragged into court. Apparently.....neither has done that.
Wonder why? He hires top-notch people to do his tax submissions.....not H and R Block.
2. If you think this is a wise idea.....why not the VP, the cabinet posts, the Senators, and the House members as well?
I'm waiting....but all I hear is silence.
Frankly, I'd like to clear the deck and put all of them to the task. If they bought stock and got wealthy.....what stock, and how did they get the insider info?
3. If we go and make this a policy.....if you were a businessman, wouldn't it scare the crap out of you, and convince you to never run for office?
4. Even if all of this were correct, and nothing wrong with the tax submission.....wouldn't your chief aim be to find out about his loans, what the cost or interest deal was about?
Is that really any of your business?
5. If the review was approved.....who is the reviewer? Who appoints the guy?
6. If the loan deal was in his wife's name.....is there anything wrong with that?
7. Does this really fix or resolve democracy in America? Or would have a brand-new problem in two weeks?
1. If New York state tax revenue people, and the IRS ever felt his submissions.....for over fifty years, were screwed-up, they would go and take an audit. If they have finished up an audit.....he would have been given the 'paperwork' to pay his bill, and been dragged into court. Apparently.....neither has done that.
Wonder why? He hires top-notch people to do his tax submissions.....not H and R Block.
2. If you think this is a wise idea.....why not the VP, the cabinet posts, the Senators, and the House members as well?
I'm waiting....but all I hear is silence.
Frankly, I'd like to clear the deck and put all of them to the task. If they bought stock and got wealthy.....what stock, and how did they get the insider info?
3. If we go and make this a policy.....if you were a businessman, wouldn't it scare the crap out of you, and convince you to never run for office?
4. Even if all of this were correct, and nothing wrong with the tax submission.....wouldn't your chief aim be to find out about his loans, what the cost or interest deal was about?
Is that really any of your business?
5. If the review was approved.....who is the reviewer? Who appoints the guy?
6. If the loan deal was in his wife's name.....is there anything wrong with that?
7. Does this really fix or resolve democracy in America? Or would have a brand-new problem in two weeks?
The Ten Paths of the TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
I'm not a clinical physiological expert or graduate. However, I sit and read a great deal, and analyze people and situations. I'll offer the following observations:
1. You'd really like to correct people that you feel are wrong.
2. Intellectually, you feel superior to the people who voted for Trump. In fact, you may have attended college, and even wrapped up a PhD, thus giving you more insight than the mere mortals walking around.
3. You tend to socialize and develop friendships only with people of your mindset.
4. You view one single news medium, and rarely see any alternate news.
5. You believe in a high rate of propaganda being used for the 'other' people, yet vouch that no propaganda ever influences you.
6. Friendships don't matter.....you can easily cast a friend aside if they have the wrong prospective in life. Even associates with your church or your next-door neighbor.....can easily be cast aside.The friends that you do have....all have the same tendency and support each other in the same fashion.
7. You generally laugh over the previous syndromes suggested (Bush Derangement Syndrome, Clinton Derangement Syndrome, and Obama Derangement Syndrome).
8. You generally believe your status in the world (as a journalist, Hollywood character, rock-star or fictional writer) is enough to sway people and reclaim them from their mental defect.
9. You generally believe that a Jesus-political figure can only save you, while a Satan-political figure can only hurt you.
10. You probably consume more than two hours of news per day.
1. You'd really like to correct people that you feel are wrong.
2. Intellectually, you feel superior to the people who voted for Trump. In fact, you may have attended college, and even wrapped up a PhD, thus giving you more insight than the mere mortals walking around.
3. You tend to socialize and develop friendships only with people of your mindset.
4. You view one single news medium, and rarely see any alternate news.
5. You believe in a high rate of propaganda being used for the 'other' people, yet vouch that no propaganda ever influences you.
6. Friendships don't matter.....you can easily cast a friend aside if they have the wrong prospective in life. Even associates with your church or your next-door neighbor.....can easily be cast aside.The friends that you do have....all have the same tendency and support each other in the same fashion.
7. You generally laugh over the previous syndromes suggested (Bush Derangement Syndrome, Clinton Derangement Syndrome, and Obama Derangement Syndrome).
8. You generally believe your status in the world (as a journalist, Hollywood character, rock-star or fictional writer) is enough to sway people and reclaim them from their mental defect.
9. You generally believe that a Jesus-political figure can only save you, while a Satan-political figure can only hurt you.
10. You probably consume more than two hours of news per day.
Something To Ponder Upon
A study was completed by the New York state health department. Basically, their statistical review says this.....from the sum total of the entire state (19.5 million)....roughly 13-percent of the folks have had the Coronavirus.
Prior to the study? Folks kinda thought that the sum total was ONE-percent.
What this all mean? Basically....a whole bunch of folks were infected and showed few if any symptoms.
Yeah, it's the kind of thing that would make you pause and ponder. Today, you might bump into 200 total people, by the time you wrap up things and head back home. Co-workers, the gas station people, the coffee lady, the burger kid and his crew, the bartender who served you a beer, and the sixteen people within ten feet of you at the pub. Out of that.....26 of them have had the virus, or have it currently.
Prior to the study? Folks kinda thought that the sum total was ONE-percent.
What this all mean? Basically....a whole bunch of folks were infected and showed few if any symptoms.
Yeah, it's the kind of thing that would make you pause and ponder. Today, you might bump into 200 total people, by the time you wrap up things and head back home. Co-workers, the gas station people, the coffee lady, the burger kid and his crew, the bartender who served you a beer, and the sixteen people within ten feet of you at the pub. Out of that.....26 of them have had the virus, or have it currently.
Why Resumes Matter
Around the early 1990s, I took to viewing people by their resume. I would move into an office (those being my military years), and assess new people by what I saw them doing or achieving. In simple terms.....they were 'writing' a verbal resume, and I was 'reading' it.
Around twenty years ago, I branched out and looked at individuals beyond who I worked for. This meant looking at Senators, Governors, and journalists. At this point, I began to note one-star wonders.....people who felt they were qualified for 'something' but the truth was that they couldn't really achieve much of anything.
John McCain was one of those people. Once you went down his resume....he just wasn't that qualified or capable. He did make speeches, and blast people, but beyond that.....he wasn't an achiever-type.
Bill Clinton was at the positive end. He'd done various jobs, and accomplished enough at each level.....to prove his value on the resume.
Hillary Clinton? Even into 2016, she had a basic 7-line resume, without much to show except she was the wife of Bill Clinton. The Secretary of State job and the Senator routine for eight years? She was showing up for work but not achieving much of anything.
The resume for Mitt Romney? He was a die-hard road-kill artist....swooping down upon burned-out companies without much value.....casting off what was dead-weight, and then finding one or two gems in the whole mess....to repackage and resell. Beyond that, he did nothing to fix or resolve the mess....he was there to dissolve it.
I came to work for an officer one day, who'd had one single run-in with a junior officer who was sexual-assault player. At some point, he'd seen enough of the behavior, and dragged the guy into a bloom-closet and blackened the guy's eye. That single event set up a reputation....mostly as a guy who didn't take BS. His resume, I tended to stamp as a four-star situation.
Lately, I've taken to viewing journalists, and assigning values to their resumes. Most....I would suggest.....are not talented to stay in the field long-term. Yes, I'm suggesting that a fair number of people in the field of news are simple pretenders....who drifted through college and impressed a couple of people enough to gain a doorway situation. Beyond that.....they don't measure up to folks who were there in the 1960s or 1970s.
I would suggest that people sit and view people and their 'resume'.....asking themselves, what exactly has the guy or gal accomplished in the past ten to twenty years. If this 'resume' is fewer than seven lines, maybe they aren't that impressive, and you should just pass on their significance.
Around twenty years ago, I branched out and looked at individuals beyond who I worked for. This meant looking at Senators, Governors, and journalists. At this point, I began to note one-star wonders.....people who felt they were qualified for 'something' but the truth was that they couldn't really achieve much of anything.
John McCain was one of those people. Once you went down his resume....he just wasn't that qualified or capable. He did make speeches, and blast people, but beyond that.....he wasn't an achiever-type.
Bill Clinton was at the positive end. He'd done various jobs, and accomplished enough at each level.....to prove his value on the resume.
Hillary Clinton? Even into 2016, she had a basic 7-line resume, without much to show except she was the wife of Bill Clinton. The Secretary of State job and the Senator routine for eight years? She was showing up for work but not achieving much of anything.
The resume for Mitt Romney? He was a die-hard road-kill artist....swooping down upon burned-out companies without much value.....casting off what was dead-weight, and then finding one or two gems in the whole mess....to repackage and resell. Beyond that, he did nothing to fix or resolve the mess....he was there to dissolve it.
I came to work for an officer one day, who'd had one single run-in with a junior officer who was sexual-assault player. At some point, he'd seen enough of the behavior, and dragged the guy into a bloom-closet and blackened the guy's eye. That single event set up a reputation....mostly as a guy who didn't take BS. His resume, I tended to stamp as a four-star situation.
Lately, I've taken to viewing journalists, and assigning values to their resumes. Most....I would suggest.....are not talented to stay in the field long-term. Yes, I'm suggesting that a fair number of people in the field of news are simple pretenders....who drifted through college and impressed a couple of people enough to gain a doorway situation. Beyond that.....they don't measure up to folks who were there in the 1960s or 1970s.
I would suggest that people sit and view people and their 'resume'.....asking themselves, what exactly has the guy or gal accomplished in the past ten to twenty years. If this 'resume' is fewer than seven lines, maybe they aren't that impressive, and you should just pass on their significance.
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