Texas Talk

 Texas-chatter came up....Dem's want a high-speed rail project.

Route?  Dallas....going south....hitting Waco.....then Austin....ending in San Antonio.  If you figure in a 5-min stop in Waco and Austin....the total trip is about 2 hours and 45 minutes (roughly).

Cost of such a ticket?  Unknown....they left this info out of the draft bill.  My humble guess.....round-trip?  Probably in the $250 range.

To be kinda honest....the Dallas to Waco 'leg'....probably would never have anyone riding.  

How many runs per day?  With a 3-car train and 250-odd passenger max for each trip...no more than three runs is my guess.

Why leave Houston out of this?  That's another odd feature.

If you left this for public talk?  It would not be in the top 100 improvements for the state.  

The funny thing?  You could start up a bus-trip....same route....taking 6 hours....for $39 each way.

Taboo Chatting

 I sat this morning....reading over a list of taboo subjects....listed by the top things you probably shouldn't engage upon.

Number one: whether whites are smarter than blacks, because of genetic reasons.

Number two: whether brother-sister sex is harmful for consenting adults.

Number three: whether trans stuff is a mental disease.

To be honest, after reviewing the forty-odd items listed.....there's probably a zero chance of me bringing up any of these....anywhere....with anyone.

Somewhere down the list....was the topic of socialism being better than capitalism (being taboo to discuss).  I pondered over this....if someone did want to engage me on this....I'd probably try to find a exit door and leave....preferring not to waste my time with a capitalism-is-doomed discussion.

Oddly, we don't think of taboo-chatter much.  

Where This Credit Card 'Evolution' Goes

By the end of 2027, I'll predict these changes coming over credit cards:

1.  Rate is established at 10-percent. 

2.  Immediately, the C/C companies put out a letter.  Around one-third of all holders (mostly folks making $40k or less) are given their 'freedom'....no more credit.  Just pay your debt situation and be finished.

3.  From the remaining crowd....there's going to be a yearly fee (probably minimum of $100, on up to $1,000) to have 'status'.

4.  From this crowd....half will be limited to a max of $8,000 of credit. The rest will have some formula....50-percent of your yearly income.

5.  Some major congressional hearings about will occur....drawing negative attention over M/C and Visa.  At a key hearing, the 'bosses' of the card empire announce that forty Senators/Congressmen....have over $80,000 in credit card debt....suggesting that they might announce the names of the individuals.

California

 I paused over this in the AM today....California (via the Governor) to force nutrition 'nuts' who buy popular fitness supplement cans (the powder stuff)...to show an ID upon purchase....being age 18.

The funny thing....you don't need an ID to vote (in California).

Around 2013....while I still worked....I had this conversation with a Army guy who was consumed on fitness and nutrition.  We got into a talk about the protein powder BS.  His thoughts, after a fair amount of research....about 50-percent of all the powder stuff sold....is worthless.  He rattled off three or four 'brands' which he felt were legit....while the rest had zero-value.

The question in my mind....how many 12-year-old or 14-year-old idiots....are dedicated to fitness and consuming a can a week of the crap?  

Now?  Would some fake ID industry start up.....to help the poor fitness lads buy their protein crap?

Card Chatter

 I read yesterday....one of the top ten agendas for the Democrats in 2027....is to set the max credit-card rate to 10-percent.

So I have this story to tell.

1980....I had returned to the US after my first assignment overseas....arriving at Tacoma, WA.  I was a E-4, and wanted a credit card (my first).  I went to the base bank (something-west in the name).

The gal looked at my application and finally had the 'deal' laid out.

First, there was a limit....max of $800.  Then came the yearly fee....around $80.  She made it clear....the fee would drop probably in three years....when my pay advanced, and the limit would reach around $1,200.  In her view....the 'deal' was not worth the cost.  I walked out.  

 Six years would pass....while overseas in Panama....I'd finally be offered a card, with zero fees, and a $4,000 limit....but the rate?  Well....18-percent.

What I noticed from the late 80s on.....the card companies relied upon the high-rate to cover their profit goal.

So looking at this Democratic agenda, and likely odds of evolution....I'll predict this.  

Once the 10-percent deal is locked down....around 50-percent of all card holders in America will get a letter....the card will be locked down to a max of $1,500 of use.  New card players?  There's likely to be a $100 to $300 card fee to just get started.  Finally, there's likely to be a creation of some 'credit-vehicle'...for the ultra rich....those making over $250,000 a year.....with a fee attached.  

Don't get me wrong....I'm in favor of doing something.  It's ridiculous for some idiot-gal to have $75,000 in card-debt....with a salary of only $45,000 a year.  

Next up?  Well....the car idiots buy a $80,000 car....with a 7-year loan...paying $1,200 a month. The Dems will come to save them as well.....making it impossible to buy any new car.  

Bloomington

 I noted over the weekend....that the city of Bloomington, Indiana, has gone to ban artificial superintelligence (AI).  They voted (the city council)....7-0....to ban super-intelligent AI within city limits, to include apps (like Chat-tpt or Grok) and browsers-helpers. 

If you violate the law....fines and possible prosecution. 

I paused over it and pondered.

The city has a population of 83,000.  I would reckon....on a weekly basis....of the population of 83,000....probably 25,000 use AI in some form.  Majority?  Amazon's Alexa....yeah, it is AI (pure and simple). On Chat-TPT and Grok?  I bet it's close to 10,000-plus folks using it.

If you stepped into the city council members houses or cars.....I would imagine five out of the seven...have some form of AI.

It's a BS agenda item.

One should go and suggest that Bloomington wants to set the example, and ban high-IQ people (those above 120) from owning property or staying overnight in the city.  Those folks....are highly dangerous....thinking outside of he envelop. 

But part of me wonders....is AI now monitoring Bloomington and creating 'agents' to take on the agenda?

The State of Atlanta, and the State of Georgia

 I worked with a guy who grew up about an hour outside of Atlanta (closer to Rome than Atlanta).  We'd often have discussions over the Braves, and to a lesser degree....the state itself.

At some point in the 2005-2009 era....we talked about the transformation of Atlanta, and he used the analogy of 'OLD-Atlanta' and 'NEW-Atlanta'.

OLD-Atlanta shifted in the 1970s....with a majority of blacks being noted, and what whites existed in the 1940s/1950s/1960s....pulled up stakes and moved 20 to 40 miles outside of town.

OLD-Atlanta was shifting from marginal airport....to the international-airport

OLD-Atlanta was building convention centers, hotels, and high-rises.

OLD-Atlanta was talking about metro-status by the end of the 1980s.

NEW-Atlanta?  Suburbia-shift occurred....black population decreased, young college graduate jobs began to appear.

NEW-Atlanta....Braves left town and kinda labeled themselves as 'outside of Atlanta'.

NEW-Atlanta....crime started to be noticed....with drugs and gangs.

Urbania-Atlanta vote?  Mostly had shifted to anti-Republican....his belief....seven out of ten 'locals' were identifying as hardcore Democrat. 

Then he said the magic words....there were two states....the state of Atlanta (to include the airport and the Braves-zone), and the state of Georgia.  It's like talking about Nashville and Tennessee in 2026.

I humored him for a while...weren't the two on the same agenda?

He responded....one day....they will be on separate agendas....both trying to declare they were rebuilding NEW-Atlanta and Georgia itself....into something else, but no matter how you describe it....they just weren't the same landscape.

After the election of last week....I'm wondering about this two-agenda landscape.  

Maybe it's just a chatter-topic....like stuff you'd talk about over a whiskey or two.  Maybe it's something where half the state is fretting over 'change'.