Five Observations

 1.  The way things are going in Saudi Arabia (past five days)....this Houthi 'war' is developing and requiring a lot of attention.  Saudis were expecting the Americans would 'help', and this has not been the case.  So they are looking around....expecting Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan to help.  

All of this puts pressure on oil/gas prices.  Then the natural gas sales of the region....are at risk.  

Quietly, the US/Venezuela situation really comes across right now as a brilliant development. 

2.  Mid-terms chatter.  We are about 8 weeks away from election day.  

Senate shocks?  Georgia: Ossoff appears to be on shaky ground....Republican might win.  Michigan: Republican win more than likely.  New Hampshire likely flips over to a Republican.  

House?  Based on various polls....Republicans end up with a ten-plus situation (minimum).

3.  This whole discussion about Chinese-car-makers assembling their cars in the US.....will turn a China-made car from $8k to $12k (made/assembled in China, before tariff action)......into a $25k deal (with tariffs).  If made/produced/assembled in the US by Americans?  I would likely push the price up to $35k....with zero tariff action.

The China disgruntlement?  Less employed Chinese....some public frustration about being forced into a deal.

Would I buy such a car (either Chinese-made, or China-design-but-assembled-by-Americans)?  I'm not sure about this.  

It was this way in the 1990s....where South Korean cars were imported into the US, and were marginally up-to-par.  Eventually, they were great designs and quality cars.  Maybe Chinese car go the same way.

4.  About every week, I see a discussion over truck prices and guys admitting there's WAY too much crap being put onto a truck...pushing the price from $40k....on up to $75,000.  Some folks are now admitting....they'd be willing to buy a bare-bones 1980-type F-150....with nothing special other than AM/FM radio and AC. If some Venezuelan 'Elon' was smart....he'd work up a Ford/Trump deal....build the old Ford F-150 design and ship it into the US for $18,000.

5.  Ric Flair....age 77.....says he's on a return path to the WWE wrestling events.

To be honest....I'd probably pay up to $75 for a ringside seat for such event.

Half-Wit Female?

 I sat this morning (early) and watched a 45-second piece....some close-up of a mid-20s gal....explaining her position on the Lindsay Clancy court case, and dwelling on her personal feelings....as a "non-practicing white".

Yeah....obviously she is 'pure-white' and she's discussing the bitter part of this court 'saga' triggered by a black-guy (probably a practicing black guy....if you ask me).

But my question is....what exactly is practicing in this context to mean?  

Could I be a practicing PhD guy?  Or perhaps....practicing British royal?  Or maybe....a practicing NFL player?  Is there a limit to this practicing business?

I asked AI (Grok) about this. It suggested that....."some white people analogize distancing from "whiteness" (viewed as a system of privilege and supremacy) to being non-practicing in a religion, aiming to signal allyship."   Yeah...more or less telling you with a 'wink' that they only pretend to be white....while practicing to be some 'other thing'.

Blacks watching this?  I would imagine they are mostly laughing over the 'talk'/suggestion, and letting the poor person play this out (seeing how far it'd go).

Like a cult?  It took me about 15 minutes of analyzing this....to grasp that it's fairly close to being cult-like thinking.

I then asked Grok (AI)....if it could go the other way....being a non-practicing-black?  Well yeah....says Grok.

Grok said:  "The same logic that produced “non-practicing white.” That term treats race less as ancestry or appearance and more as a set of cultural habits, political attitudes, and “rituals” a person can opt out of. Apply that consistently and a person of African descent could reject the expected scripts of American Black identity—particular speech patterns, political solidarity, church culture, or the idea that race should be central to every opinion—and call themselves “non-practicing Black".”

But then Grok said: "In practice the label is almost never used that way. Current identity frameworks treat “whiteness” as something one should distance from and “Blackness” as something one cannot or should not distance from."

Rational thought.....but crazy-talk.

My perception?  If you were a guy in his 18-to-30 age range....you need to pay attention to who you meet up with....asking a few questions before the date, and get to the end-point....is she a practicing-half-wit, or just a regular non-practicing half-wit, or almost normal 'wit'? Stuff like this now matters.

Five Things That Stand Out About The Trump/Butler Shooting

 First....there were two command posts.  You can't find anyone who can detail how this is possible, and who gave the order.

In the Air Force.....no idiot would order up two command posts on a base...it'd make no sense.

Second, somewhere around 3:50 PM and 4:00 PM....this guy (Crooks) launches his own personal drone, and is noted....but no one takes action.  Action taken by the protective detail?  Zero.

Third, after Crooks is declared dead....he lays there on the roof for 12 hours.  No one can explain this detail....it's like they forgot he was there.

Fourth, Crooks had two bombs and remote device to blow them up....in the vehicle.  Why wasn't that part of the plan activated?  Unknown.

Fifth, communication between the local cops and Secret Service?  Marginally existing.  

Trump's 'Deal'? $5,000 Per Person?

 I paused over it this AM....reading the situation.

To be honest....at this point in my life....I really don't need the $5k. Yeah....it's hard to admit that.

Maybe in the 1990s....in the Air Force, with a limit pay situation....it would have mattered.  Today?  I have zero debt, and can't think of any 'toy' I'd really like to purchase.  I'd probably buy a new set of tires....take the wife to some expensive restaurant....but I don't need the money.

About forty-percent of folks....probably need the cash urgently and it would matter.  

Timing of this?  Well....some might bulk-up on Christmas gifts.  But I don't think you'd get the check until May of 2027.

To be honest, I'd rather see it paying down US debt.

Humble Jury View (Lindsay Clancy) After 72 Hours

I've come to three humble thoughts of the Lindsay Clancy jury business.

First....eleven of them seem not that bright or intelligent....to the level that I'd probably not conclude a deal or agreement with them in business.

Second, their behavior did not form overnight.  I'd go and suggest this path goes back to the 1980s/1990s, and that they were 'trained' in some way to think/react this way.

Finally....on my index of 'liviability'.....trusting in the state mechanism to function as advertised...probably matters a good bit now.

Tracking The Trackee

I watched a NewsMax piece this AM.....kids are now increasingly turning family location-tracking apps.....back onto the parents.

In the space of ten years....it's surprising how much tracking is taking place today.

By 2036?  I expect the vast number of adults and kids in America to be tracked....as well as most of their pets (horses, dogs and cats). 

I expect almost all new cars sold by 2036....to be tracked and on a national database.  

I expect nearly half of all luggage sold by 2036....to be tracked.

I expect most purchases you make....to be tracked.

AI Chatter

 This AM....I noted a comment by OpenAI's top guru.  He basically came to suggest/warn....that AI is advancing at such a rate....that it's increasingly difficult for humans to understand what's going on, and how to sustain some type of control.

I watched a podcast last year....where the science-guy suggested that 'shortly' (meaning in a year or two)....for each day of AI computing....it was advancing a full-year into 24 hours.  If you did the crazy-math here....by 2030....AI would be dragging us to some level where 'it' was 1,000 years in advanced knowledge.

Something about this....reminds me of the movie where AI has taken over the human race.

Trying to limit or control this?  How?

Three things I expect shortly:

1.  With census-data and legit license data....AI will determine that 40-odd million Americans are 'faked-up' (non-existent).

2.  Some AI will be able design and run a MLB baseball club.  Another AI will take over umpire-duty....entirely.

3.  AI will shortly start producing new Gilligan's Island, Gunsmoke and Adam-12 episodes.