I'm Not Really Against Stupid People, But......

 I think around the last year of high school in Bama, when it occurred to me that at various times....I was dealing with stupid people.  

A year or two into the my Air Force era....I came to start a ranking system (Stupid-level 1/2/3).  Level-1 people were OK, and you could manage to educate or bring them out of the 'pit'.  Level-2 stupid people were mostly people you avoided.  Level-3 stupid people were people with extremely low IQ....probably in the 80-to-85 range and you felt sorry for.  

By the end of my Air Force era (1999)....I'd even come to realize that folks with four years of college or even a Masters Degree....could be stupid as well.

Over the past twenty years?  I've come to realize stupid people exist in the medical arena...the news media....Hollywood, and even work to sell themselves in some religious fashion...as stupid.

I've probably developed myself to immediately assess stupidity.  It's nothing personnel....but if you walked up to me and I seem  preoccupied after your introduction or tale of woe.....asking me what my mind was on....I'd respond with 'one', 'two' or 'three'.  Then you'd be hoping I gave you a 'one' or 'three'.

If I were offering advice to some high school kid?  Yeah, I'd explain the stupid people issue, and get them hooked onto my grading system.  

Five Observations

 1.  It's just odd....this whole investigation into Biden's holding of classified documents in the garage and non-secure locations....declared over, and no charges.  What the prosecutor said?  Biden is an old guy and not that clear-headed....so you just need to skip over the law and 'let him be'.

Yeah, it was a huge insult, to which Biden reacted last night....got all hyped-up (extremely aggravated).  This 12-minute piece....I felt...went badly.  

Oddly, you notice at various times....his eye-blink rate goes on for 30 to 40 seconds without a blink.  He's obviously on some drug. 

2.  The Supreme Court hearing the Colorado case to exclude Trump from the ballot?  

It went badly for the Colorado anti-Trump folks....they just weren't prepared, and their case was marginally constructed.  

3.  There's talk in California that Prop 47....which made bad-boy behavior a misdemeanor.....is going to be reformed.  Next?  Well....cops would have to go and arrest folks....then charge them up, and find jail-space (into the tens of thousands).  I just don't see this working.

4.  In roughly nine to ten years....Social Security will be emptied out.  I anticipate most on Social Security to be told 'tough luck' and a 10 to 20 percent cut to be put upon them.  All those years that the House could have gone into repair?  Wasted.

5. Finally, in Air Force news.....desperation has reached a point where if you retired from the Air Force in the past five years.....they are interested in bringing you back....for a four-year period.  Certain fields....officers and NCOs.

Who would go back in?  I pondered over this.  

Most folks would laugh....they already have a job.

I would imagine that one-percent of AF retired folks will sit and ponder upon the idea....being age 45 and getting one more tour and four more years onto their retirement situation (probably giving them an extra $400 as a E7/E8 on their pension). But out of this 1-percent group?  I'd take a wild guess that fewer than 150 folks actually take the bait and run.

I laughed over my final month in the Air Force in 1999.....the personnel guy was briefing me and said.....you must retain your uniform for a period of time (I think it was 3 years)....saying some type of obligation existed at that point in time and they could call me back.  

I think somewhere in the basement....there's still a duffle bag with one set of blues, and three sets of BDUs sitting there.....twenty years later.

Warrant Officers?

I sat and read over a Air Force story today....Air Force Headquarters in reviewing this crazy idea.....bringing back warrant officers (WOs), and possibly creating the claass training program by the end of 2024.  

How long have the WOs been gone?  Sixty-five years.

What happened?  Well....the Air Force came to realize that Congress was looking at trimming officer billets, and figured....lets dump the WOs.....enlarge senior enlisted billets and junior officer billets.

What made WOs different?  They were typically people with 2-year degrees (minimum), and a minimum of four years of service as a enlisted guy.   They stayed in their field....meaning you didn't go off and do work unrelated to your training.

Why this change now?  Well....getting NCOs to stay in past 20, and recruiting enlisted and college folks....is near impossible. 

Will cargo pilot positions mostly go to WOs?  That's one of the curious things I see coming.....where a quarter to half of such officer billets will be WO (when the smoke clears).

I'll even predict that virtually all of the Predator piloting....goes to WOs in the future.

Eight Humble Thoughts

 1.  Within five years, I will predict that some artificial intelligence (AI) movie will be made, with dead Hollywood stars.

My pick for a western?  The Wild Bunch, with John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and James Dean.  

2.  I've seen a couple of mentions where states issued a check for $1,000 to each migrant processing in.  Americans get disturbed by this.

I sat and pondered over the stimulus checks (in the $1k to $1.5k amount), and figure....most Americans spent the money in eight hours or less.  The migrant probably spent his in two hours.  

3.  All these people in great fear of Tucker Carlson asking Putin questions.  It's like some demon-show or great fear of what Putin might say.

4.  Inflation is where you have unchecked spending on an individual and government level....where reckless behavior consumes reality....making both want a fantasy that they can never achieve.

5.  I sat and watched some video of a young guy (probably 30) who was taking his gal out for a birthday dinner, and she's got an entourage with her (maybe 15 other women).  She wants him to take the whole crew out and lay down $500 for everyone.  He just wasn't going to do it.  

I felt sorry for him....he'd picked the wrong gal to date.  The fact that he just sprung this upon him....was crap.

6.  I was reading a story over the weekend....guy had three friends coming over and had ordered up four big sub-sandwiches (Jersey Mikes).  Final bill came (with taxes) to just over $90.  Guy stood there in shock...paid it, and made a mental note....never to order sub-sandwiches again.

This is the reality of inflation and how society 'lost'.

7.  Delaying the Biden exit....to the Convention, is the wrong way to go.  You end up with a massive jump-start necessary for secondary candidates (House, Senate, Governors, state elections, etc). 

8.  I paused over the AM story today....Nevada primary for GOP concluded....Haley finished second (33-percent).  They would not allow Trump on the ballot, so instead, the bulk of voters went to 'None-of-These-Candidates'.

How bad does this make Haley look?  Exceptional.

The millions wasted and you couldn't really beat Trump again.

Ten Observations

 1.  I'm not really freaked out by Tucker Carlson being in Moscow and doing a face-to-face interview with Putin.

In fact, this used to be what journalists did....they didn't fake-up their profession.  

Also, I'm wondering if he'll ask Putin if the Russians have a collection of broke UFOs....like the US has.

2.  Just interesting...CBS offered a interview OP in the middle of the Super Bowl for President Biden...live.  

He said 'no'.  Or at least his handlers said 'no'.

3.  I'm of the belief by 2030...in states like Maryland, New York and New Jersey....not a single statue will exist except within museums themselves.

4.  There are probably over 300 movies that were made in the 1980s and 1990s....that could not be made today....because of woke mentality.

5.  I'll admit that as I meet new people in any setting today....I'm tending to evaluate them for mental illness.  I'll also admit, within a 30-minute chat...probably 10-percent have some degree of mental illness.  Note, I'm not a mental health doctor or degreed person on psychological issues.

6.  Back in the 1980s....it seemed like every single week....some nightly news folks were talking about acid rain.  You ever noticed today...no one utters acid rain?

7.  There is some discussion going on in the UK...if people in their dying days....can change their gender, for the death certificate purposes.  I guess with some folks....your focus on reality goes pretty quick near the end.

8.  Just how many Chinese migrants have illegally entered the US?  Just 3,000?  30,000?  300,000?

9.  I saw this story in the AM....'college student's average IQ has plunged'. 

The worry by the emphasis?  Your HR department might come to realize the issue....lessen hiring of the dimwits, and create a massive backlog of new graduates with no job potential.

But I would offer this commentary....these graduates are going out and getting school teacher jobs, and thus pretending to be qualified, when they have an even lesser IQ than these 8th grade or 10th grade students.

So I'm wondering this....if you had x-level of IQ upon the end of high school, paid $90,000 and wasted four years....to have an IQ eight points less than when you entered....what was the purpose of the four years and $90,000 wasted?  

10.  If you live in a shi*-hole city, and you have no desire to escape, you've got something mentally wrong with yourself. 

A Leave Story

 I worked in the late 1970s in the Air Force with Sergeant Conrad....a Puerto Rican guy.  Back around 1974....he'd joined and gotten almost a whole year without leave.  He asked for 30 days so he could go home (Puerto Rico). Air Force said 'fine'.

On the 31st day....he returns just as some major hurricane hits the island.  The Air Force activates some plan, and identifies his unit that morning....to board planes and help in the disaster.   

He boards the plane and spends around six weeks in Puerto Rico on AF duty.  He returns to find his boss transferred to another job.  The leave paperwork?  Missing.  

Quietly, without any explanation....the 30 days of leave simply was forgotten.  He waited three months, then turned around and asked for 30 new days of leave.  They approved this.  He goes off for 30 days.

When he comes back from this....some fire in the squadron headquarters building occurs.  All of that paperwork disappears.  

He figured not to tempt fate, and didn't ask for a 3rd leave request. 

Two Humble Thoughts

 1.  I now believe that nine Senate seats held by Democrats....will fall in November....mostly because of the Trump-effect.

My list? West Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Nevada, Michigan, Montana, and Arizona.

I'll even go and say the margin of Virginia's Tim Kaine against Hung Cao  (Republican candidate)....will be less than three points.  

What this means?  Assuming Trump wins....I suspect that two Supreme Court Justices will retire in spring of 2025 (Thomas and Alito).  

2.  Just odd on this graphic chart:

Since Biden took office...two trends separated, by 9-million people.

The chart shows the Household Survey data and the Establishment data.

Prior to Biden, they always tracked together.  

The Establishment data incorporates the payroll records of around 144,000 non-farm establishments and government agencies, covering workers at some 554,000 individual worksites.

The Household Survey?  The household survey includes farm/agricultural workers, self-employed folks whose businesses are unincorporated, unpaid family workers, and private household workers among the employed. These groups are excluded from the establishment survey.  If you were on unpai leave from your business....you'd end up on  the Household Survey, NOT the Establishment data.

The missing nine million?  Well....the question is....are they employed on a second job (delivering pizza, stacking shelves, or pouring concrete on weekends)?