Dyscalculia?

I had to look up the term. 

Dyscalculia means you have a lifelong neurodevelopmental learning disorder.  Roughly....one out of twenty have this problem.

Effect? It causes persistent difficulties in understanding numbers, quantities, and basic arithmetic. 

This is the kid who you tell some word-problem....indicating 16-percent being the end-result, telling you that that this represents 30 people....and the 'game' is to figure what you really started with.  The kid looks at you....thinking it's a rocket-science problem.  No matter what you do....he's lost.

As you expect...mental math is impossible....and there's constant anxiety in this one single class.

The guy/gal isn't stupid or low IQ....they just have math jumbled up in their head.

Invasion!!!!

 I sat yesterday and watched about ten minutes of a guy talking over the newest rumor/BS....that somewhere in the US government....a group is planning to stage a fake alien invasion.

I pondered over this for the past twelve hours.

First, within the state of Alabama....we are fully prepared (armed)....with enough ammo to hold off the fake aliens. 

Second, to reach a point of a quarter of society accepting this....you'd  have to have some 'event' where 50,000 Americans die, and I just don't see gov't idiots willing to go that far.

Third, if this amounts to just six football field-size alien craft....no one is going to  believe the event.  

Fourth, you likely get one single chance on this....if you ever try to stage a 2nd or 3rd fake invasion.....no one will fall for  it.

Finally, just a bet....the minute the fake invasion starts up....it's likely that the good-guy aliens will say  'what-the-hell' and blast the fake aliens.

Wild times.

Five Observatations

 1. My wife's co-worker had a new washer arrive Thursday of last week....with a wi-fi connection.  I asked why.....neither the wife or her associate had a good explanation.

I just note...dryers....toasters and coffee-machines come this way now...making no sense..

2. Someone noted how much wealth has left California  in the past two years....saying it's in the $700-Billion range.

3. I generally believe that if you grew up in the 1960s/1970s....you could generally handle any stress/chaos.

4.  Tucker Carlson claims.....that Donald Trump has some kind of a “supernatural component” that puts people around him in a “dreamland.”

Alien-BS?  

5. What job would I hand de Santos as he exits Florida governor-job?  

House-Speaker is not required to be a House-elected member....I'd tell the House GOP to hire him up and give him that job for 2 years.

$9 Starbucks Coffee

 Somebody this week asked Starbucks CEO about their newest coffee and cost ($9).  What he said....he says a guy needs to just not think about it as a $9 cup of coffee, this is about paying for the “experience” of getting a Starbucks coffee,

I paused over this.

I can remember when coffee (plain/regular) was around 25-cents.   

I can also remember being at some airport in the early 1990s....paying $1.

I can remember around 2013....getting a premium coffee of Starbucks....paying around $4.50 (grande/large cup).

At the point where it was near $5....I sat and thought....two premium beers from the grocery across the street...with sales tax...probably would equal the coffee.

To be honest...at least here in Germany, I could buy a whole bottle of vodka now  for about $7...which would barely get me two medium cups of coffee.

The experience thing he talks about?  Well....if this were a stripper-club...maybe the $9 cost is appropriate.  But if the coffee lady is some dimwitted 18-year-old gal with florescent-orange hair, has seven piercings being obvious, and she talks demonic BS about politics....then NO, the $9 is not a reason to drink the coffee.

To be blunt about this...if I ever did buy and drink the $9 coffee....I'd be fearful that my German wife would find out and spend four hours lecturing me about being frugal, and that I should fill a thermos at home with coffee to lug around. 

Netflix Series: Department Q

 It's not often I recommend a Netflix series....but I've wrapped up 'Department Q', and would strongly recommend it.

Detective series....missing person....'bad-boy' cop given the job.

Somewhere in the beginning....they've given the detective a 'helper'...basically a immigrant guy from the Middle East....named 'Akram'.

I'll just say that every scene that Akram appears in....he's like 'Billy-Jack' character, and dominates the scene.  Akram has no respect for rules or regulations.

Season two?  Approved.  

My View On Seattle

 Since last year....I've followed almost daily....the ramblings and  commentary of Seattle's socialist mayor....Katie Wilson.

I consider her to be rather 'gifted' intellectually....to the point where you would describe her as a idiot-servant.  

How she was elected as mayor?  I have this theory.

I think a majority of voters saw her as useless and lacking....but were drawn to vote her into office because they wanted chaos.   These are voters who knew she'd fail to deliver, and likely open various 'exit-doors' for the well-to-do voters to leave the city and state. 

These are 'agents' who want disorder and daily theatrical shows.

Wilson is set to be mayor (unless she quits or is taken  out by the state mechanism)...until the fall of 2029.   

My humble view is that the tax revenue folks will have a talk with her around the first of 2027, and note they are missing around 5-to-10 percent of normal collection.  Whether she'll connect the dots or not....I think she'll just say 'move-on'...continue operations, and some financial officer will note that somewhere in the budget....at least five-percent has to be cut/gutted.

At that point, Wilson will tell the state to make up the difference...refusing to cut.

This will go back and forth....to the point that the state tells Wilson....that Seattle's damage crosses over into state-damage, and they are missing tax revenue as well.  'Sorry' will be the response....but the state can't cover the losses.

By mid-summer of 2027....Wilson probably will have public appearance issues....not wanting to talk about the mess.

Four Observations

 1.  The future.  I watched a podcast this week, which got into the design/capability of Grok/AI (Elon's  'creature').

The thing pointed out making Grok different.....'he' reads everything....from printed science papers....to useless junk.  The thing pointed out....from the useless junk....Grok might find a thousand pages of such material....binding them (individually together)...to present some idea/concept....as legit.  

In so doing this...every single day....Grok might add another layer to technology.....that didn't exist yesterday.  So, you can imagine....a year or two might pass, and by this Grok path....things that would have been created in 2040....might actually be created and working by 2030.  

Just me talking....but I suspect this worries people.

2.  Just by the exit-path created in Portland and Seattle....I'm likely to believe that both will be on the 'road' to Detroit-status within the next three to five years.

Note....I don't believe the locals grasp that, or even worry about it.  It's just an odd  perception....wanting a city to dissolve into nothing.

3.  Over the past week, I've watched/read several hours of stuff over the re-districting 'game' being played out.  Personally, I don't think the Democrats (even from the 1960s/1970s)....ever imagined that the correction would occur....where gerrymandering would be thrown out.

At this time...oddly....states are  being forced to clean-up their voting rolls....with several million names removed.

Yeah....it's possible that you see forty-odd districts shift....to the Republicans.  

4.  Finally, rumors started up today....Venezuela is set to depart from OPEC.  If you ask me....oil prices in about four months will be down to around $50 a barrel.