When you make some determination to go off and attend university somewhere, there ought to be logical process or thinking involved.....but because of the juvenile behavior thinking in the mix....you lose some perception and common sense along the way.
College is not a social club for misfits or loser-attitude teenagers.
College is supposed to make you think....to perceive....to ask questions....to determine facts and balance out an end-result.
College is not a union.
College is usually a place where you end up meeting folks from different walks of life, some with religious convictions....some with far-left-wing convictions....some with communist ideology drilled in.....some with dreams of becoming a forest-ranger....and some with dreams of becoming President of the United States some day.
College is not a clique of borderline misfits, and if you think you've bumped into some....you are in a loser university.
College is where smart professors teach you the art of logic and thinking.
College is not a mob-club that allows students to run the system.
College isn't a place where free-space is restrained.
College is not a semi-professional sport association.
College is generally the only place where you can practice geometric equations, lab experiments, debate skills....screw-up....and learn from your mistakes without any harm.
College is not a place where attendance means success in life.
College is a place where you could bump into a Chinese gal, a British-eventually-to-become-a-Lord, an alcoholic Scot, a flirtatious Swedish gal, an Einstein-like Japanese guy, an migrant from Libya, and a mentally insane German....all in one single day.
College is not a safe playground where you play silly games all day.
College is supposed to be a dividing line about maturity, acceptance of logic, a taste of debate, and an open door to knowledge.
College isn't a thug or riot-training environment.
At the end of this period of attendance....you should have learned something and discovered a wide expanse of knowledge. You ought to be able to listen to arguments and find points to agree or disagree. If this isn't your situation? Fine, get an occupation and move on in life.
Sunday, 16 August 2026
The Typical Idiot Who Falls for the Anti-Capitalist or Pro-Socialist Slant
I've sat and watched a number of videos over the past month where young men and ladies (presumably from university protest action) were asked to detail and explain their pro-socialism view on the world and how capitalism is destroying civilization. Generally, you notice three things about their talk and view:
(1) They have virtually no understanding of business or commerce. If you asked them how the tennis shoes on their feet came to exist....a blank stare would likely occur. Why almost no tennis shoes are manufactured in the US today....wouldn't be something that they could explain, or why virtually no TVs are manufactured in the US. It's like they attended two or three years of college without taking a single class in business.
(2) They've never traveled beyond the border of the US. They reference France or Germany an awful lot....but oddly, they simply haven't been to either. They reference Cuba a good bit.....but haven't been there. They reference the Soviet Union or Russia a good bit.....but haven't been there.
(3) They seem to be absolutely on the idea that a company could exist where the employees run everything and there are no bosses or corporate umbrella. Beyond some local flower shop or two-man barber-shop.....they typically can't identify a single business that exists like they describe. They keep on identifying some company in France that runs this way, or how all businesses run in Finland.
In essence, it's a naive 'club'. They've paid some dues to get in the front door....hype up the agenda with other members....and keep talking about the perfect world that exists in Finland, Cuba, or some fantasy utopia.
I often get the idea that they also enjoy a 402-situation (pro-marijuana).
You'd generally say that this group of individuals lack skepticism, common sense, and a pondering nature. Whatever lecture they got lured into....they tend to believe in the fantasy world described and never question anything. The odd thing here is that thirty to forty years ago....you would have in various college lectures and the impact of independent thinking, analysis, and skeptic nature would have drilled into you. For some reason, these skills....which you generally need in life to survive....aren't lectured upon.
What happens in the end? Somewhere down the line....someone is going make some impact upon these naive minds and bring them to some Socrates-like moment where they have to reflect and ponder upon the situation. It won't be a pleasant experience.
(1) They have virtually no understanding of business or commerce. If you asked them how the tennis shoes on their feet came to exist....a blank stare would likely occur. Why almost no tennis shoes are manufactured in the US today....wouldn't be something that they could explain, or why virtually no TVs are manufactured in the US. It's like they attended two or three years of college without taking a single class in business.
(2) They've never traveled beyond the border of the US. They reference France or Germany an awful lot....but oddly, they simply haven't been to either. They reference Cuba a good bit.....but haven't been there. They reference the Soviet Union or Russia a good bit.....but haven't been there.
(3) They seem to be absolutely on the idea that a company could exist where the employees run everything and there are no bosses or corporate umbrella. Beyond some local flower shop or two-man barber-shop.....they typically can't identify a single business that exists like they describe. They keep on identifying some company in France that runs this way, or how all businesses run in Finland.
In essence, it's a naive 'club'. They've paid some dues to get in the front door....hype up the agenda with other members....and keep talking about the perfect world that exists in Finland, Cuba, or some fantasy utopia.
I often get the idea that they also enjoy a 402-situation (pro-marijuana).
You'd generally say that this group of individuals lack skepticism, common sense, and a pondering nature. Whatever lecture they got lured into....they tend to believe in the fantasy world described and never question anything. The odd thing here is that thirty to forty years ago....you would have in various college lectures and the impact of independent thinking, analysis, and skeptic nature would have drilled into you. For some reason, these skills....which you generally need in life to survive....aren't lectured upon.
What happens in the end? Somewhere down the line....someone is going make some impact upon these naive minds and bring them to some Socrates-like moment where they have to reflect and ponder upon the situation. It won't be a pleasant experience.
Forty-Nine Year Moment
It was forty-nine years ago two weeks ago....that I entered into the Air Force. Hard to imagine that this much time has passed. Some observations:
1. I actually left Alabama on the 1st (a Monday). My mom carried me down to Florence, and we had dinner at the cafe across from the bus station. As I remember, a hamburger steak, with a salad (crackers included). After the bus ride to Nashville.....they put us up in a 2-star motel and kinda said in strong words that we'd all be better off staying around the motel (not getting into trouble).
2. The money. The recruiter guy had said that the max I'd need for basic training was maybe $25. I had about a hundred in my pocket upon leaving Alabama....mostly all tens and ones. Oddly, my mom slipped me two fifty-dollar bills minutes before the bus and just suggested I might need it. I stuck the two fifties into the far back of my billfold, and to be honest.....I didn't think much about the bills and lost track of them. Eighteen months later when I was retiring that billfold....I came to discover them again.
3. The bag. The recruiter guy had said that I didn't need to bring much in terms of clothing....just an overnight bag, a spare pair of jeans, and enough shirts/underwear/socks to last three days. That was a mistake. While we left out of Nashville on a flight to San Antonio on Tuesday afternoon....it would be Monday morning of the next week before they issued out the new uniform gear (to include socks and underwear). So I ended wearing most everything at least two full days, in intensive heat and loaded down with sweat.
4. The heat. It was a remarkable period in early August....both in Alabama and Texas. The Texas heat was mostly unbearable. You'd already be sweating at 7AM. Because of the heat, you had some unusual thunderstorms that would come through. There were at least three big storms during the six weeks I was at basic training.
5. The physical stuff. To be honest, it was pretty much a cake-walk on the physical training stuff. Every morning....there was probably 40 minutes of something going on, with weekends off. The odd thing is that you ran this daily track business (early on was half-a-mile and the last two weeks was 1.5 miles) in a pair of $29 boots. To this day, I'm surprised that people didn't have feet problems.
6. The food. Breakfast for me was for six weeks the same thing....sausage, two eggs sunny-side up, toast, a cinnamon roll, and two glasses of orange juice. Lunch was the same thing....two burgers, fries, a piece of pineapple upside down cake, and two glasses of Coke. The evening dinner was generally two Cokes, two pieces of fruit (usually bananas), and some pudding. If they had chicken for the dinner period, I'd munch on that.
7. The weight thing. The recruiter had never said a word about weight standards. Yeah, that was odd. So, on day four of basic, there were four of us pulled into some room and weighed....with all four of us over the max for our height. I was six pounds over my max. I didn't think much about this at the time. Five weeks would pass and they'd drag all four of us the day prior to graduation into a room and weigh us again. In that five week period....I lost 26 pounds. To be honest, I didn't really diet or eat different for the whole six weeks, except for this evening dinner each night. You just did enough stuff to burn a pound off every two days. My uniform? Toward the last week, it just did barely fit. When they handed me my bag with the jeans which I had last worn on 8 August, I found that they just didn't fit anymore. I ended up at Sheppard AFB's BX upon arrival and bought two new pair of jeans....size 34. That size 34 period lasted maybe one year at the most.
8. It continually amazed me how many idiots had stress problems with basic training. Some guy had a brief phone-call with his girlfriend of six months, and she'd dumped him.....he went nuts and they had to watch him for a 24-hour period. Another guy couldn't handle absoluteness of folding uniforms for the locker.
9. The course. Toward the final seven days, we were slated for an all-day play-day, with a 90-minute run through some obstacle course. This was hyped up every single day for the prior two weeks. Folks had some bad nerves over what would occur. For me, it was hot as heck....probably near 95 degrees, and the minute they offered me a chance to fall from some rope gimmick into a pool of cold water, I was obliged and just fell for the relief.
10. The C-ration lunch. In my entire career....c-rations were the norm until the mid-1980s. All total, I probably ate four of the C-rats, and will just say it was the worst tasting food you could imagine. MRE's were a welcome sight when they arrived. For basic, we had one such C-rat lunch, after the course. It was built up as a big deal.....most of us throw half the package away and begged to march back to the barracks chow-hall.
11. The relief. On the final day, everyone packed up and ready to go by 7AM. I was destined for Sheppard (a total of six of us were going there). Our bus picked us up around 8AM, and I settled back into a seat and felt absolute relief. We exited the gate and for roughly six hours traveled across mostly a landscape of farms. We'd arrive at some recently built giant barracks (enough rooms for 500 folks). They wasted an hour picking up the paperwork and giving us the keys to the rooms. I was kinda shocked thirty minutes later to be sitting a nicely air-conditioned room, with a decent bed and semi-privacy (one room-mate....a 38-year old guy who was a national guard member from New Jersey).
12. The day off. There's one single day from basic, near the end, where you get a pass into town. I hung out with a guy named Johnson from Tennessee. Somehow we got to mid-town San Antonio. My day consisted of seeing the Alamo, eating a t-bone steak, and watching some late-afternoon movie.
13. Duty day. Somewhere in the middle of the six weeks, you had to go and pull a all-day Saturday duty somewhere. Most of the guys in the group ended up doing chow-hall duty or park clean-up. I was given the duty of the base recreation center. Basically, I signed out canoes, camping gear, and whatever. Over the eight hour period....I had a total of ten customers. So I mostly sat around for the whole day.
I don't ever think of this period in negative terms....just that the six weeks passed awful quick, and one morning we did some march around some review stand, and then went back to the barracks to pack up. It was over as quickly as it started.
1. I actually left Alabama on the 1st (a Monday). My mom carried me down to Florence, and we had dinner at the cafe across from the bus station. As I remember, a hamburger steak, with a salad (crackers included). After the bus ride to Nashville.....they put us up in a 2-star motel and kinda said in strong words that we'd all be better off staying around the motel (not getting into trouble).
2. The money. The recruiter guy had said that the max I'd need for basic training was maybe $25. I had about a hundred in my pocket upon leaving Alabama....mostly all tens and ones. Oddly, my mom slipped me two fifty-dollar bills minutes before the bus and just suggested I might need it. I stuck the two fifties into the far back of my billfold, and to be honest.....I didn't think much about the bills and lost track of them. Eighteen months later when I was retiring that billfold....I came to discover them again.
3. The bag. The recruiter guy had said that I didn't need to bring much in terms of clothing....just an overnight bag, a spare pair of jeans, and enough shirts/underwear/socks to last three days. That was a mistake. While we left out of Nashville on a flight to San Antonio on Tuesday afternoon....it would be Monday morning of the next week before they issued out the new uniform gear (to include socks and underwear). So I ended wearing most everything at least two full days, in intensive heat and loaded down with sweat.
4. The heat. It was a remarkable period in early August....both in Alabama and Texas. The Texas heat was mostly unbearable. You'd already be sweating at 7AM. Because of the heat, you had some unusual thunderstorms that would come through. There were at least three big storms during the six weeks I was at basic training.
5. The physical stuff. To be honest, it was pretty much a cake-walk on the physical training stuff. Every morning....there was probably 40 minutes of something going on, with weekends off. The odd thing is that you ran this daily track business (early on was half-a-mile and the last two weeks was 1.5 miles) in a pair of $29 boots. To this day, I'm surprised that people didn't have feet problems.
6. The food. Breakfast for me was for six weeks the same thing....sausage, two eggs sunny-side up, toast, a cinnamon roll, and two glasses of orange juice. Lunch was the same thing....two burgers, fries, a piece of pineapple upside down cake, and two glasses of Coke. The evening dinner was generally two Cokes, two pieces of fruit (usually bananas), and some pudding. If they had chicken for the dinner period, I'd munch on that.
7. The weight thing. The recruiter had never said a word about weight standards. Yeah, that was odd. So, on day four of basic, there were four of us pulled into some room and weighed....with all four of us over the max for our height. I was six pounds over my max. I didn't think much about this at the time. Five weeks would pass and they'd drag all four of us the day prior to graduation into a room and weigh us again. In that five week period....I lost 26 pounds. To be honest, I didn't really diet or eat different for the whole six weeks, except for this evening dinner each night. You just did enough stuff to burn a pound off every two days. My uniform? Toward the last week, it just did barely fit. When they handed me my bag with the jeans which I had last worn on 8 August, I found that they just didn't fit anymore. I ended up at Sheppard AFB's BX upon arrival and bought two new pair of jeans....size 34. That size 34 period lasted maybe one year at the most.
8. It continually amazed me how many idiots had stress problems with basic training. Some guy had a brief phone-call with his girlfriend of six months, and she'd dumped him.....he went nuts and they had to watch him for a 24-hour period. Another guy couldn't handle absoluteness of folding uniforms for the locker.
9. The course. Toward the final seven days, we were slated for an all-day play-day, with a 90-minute run through some obstacle course. This was hyped up every single day for the prior two weeks. Folks had some bad nerves over what would occur. For me, it was hot as heck....probably near 95 degrees, and the minute they offered me a chance to fall from some rope gimmick into a pool of cold water, I was obliged and just fell for the relief.
10. The C-ration lunch. In my entire career....c-rations were the norm until the mid-1980s. All total, I probably ate four of the C-rats, and will just say it was the worst tasting food you could imagine. MRE's were a welcome sight when they arrived. For basic, we had one such C-rat lunch, after the course. It was built up as a big deal.....most of us throw half the package away and begged to march back to the barracks chow-hall.
11. The relief. On the final day, everyone packed up and ready to go by 7AM. I was destined for Sheppard (a total of six of us were going there). Our bus picked us up around 8AM, and I settled back into a seat and felt absolute relief. We exited the gate and for roughly six hours traveled across mostly a landscape of farms. We'd arrive at some recently built giant barracks (enough rooms for 500 folks). They wasted an hour picking up the paperwork and giving us the keys to the rooms. I was kinda shocked thirty minutes later to be sitting a nicely air-conditioned room, with a decent bed and semi-privacy (one room-mate....a 38-year old guy who was a national guard member from New Jersey).
12. The day off. There's one single day from basic, near the end, where you get a pass into town. I hung out with a guy named Johnson from Tennessee. Somehow we got to mid-town San Antonio. My day consisted of seeing the Alamo, eating a t-bone steak, and watching some late-afternoon movie.
13. Duty day. Somewhere in the middle of the six weeks, you had to go and pull a all-day Saturday duty somewhere. Most of the guys in the group ended up doing chow-hall duty or park clean-up. I was given the duty of the base recreation center. Basically, I signed out canoes, camping gear, and whatever. Over the eight hour period....I had a total of ten customers. So I mostly sat around for the whole day.
I don't ever think of this period in negative terms....just that the six weeks passed awful quick, and one morning we did some march around some review stand, and then went back to the barracks to pack up. It was over as quickly as it started.
Where TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) Evolves To?
For the past month, I've pondered upon this.
First, at the end of 2028....to say it ends as Trump exits....would be wrong. Part of TDS will evolve into RDS or VDS (Rubio/Vance syndrome). If you had problems with Trump....it won't dissolve away.
Second, when Trump passes....I assume between 2028 and 2038....there might be a brief time where the TDS-suffering people feel relief. But I would suggest the majority (three-quarters of sufferers)....will continue to talk about this with friends, relatives, or associates. Most will live out their remaining years (possibility another 50 years) in this mental stage.
Third, CNN halting their TDS angle, and creating an enormous 'pit' of nothing....over TDS-hype? Well....it's likely to happen, and people who were locked-into TDS....will ask why CNN just quit the hype.
Fourth, mental clinics to expand into TDS and offer rehab of some type? I'm of the mind that it's a potential goldmine of sorts....where you go off for ten days....getting into group-talk, and learning to clear your mind.
Fifth....your relative's feelings locked into place? This will continue on...for decades. Cousin so-and-so....Aunt such-and-such....you review a list of talking subjects prior to each visit, and give them some feeling of 'no-problem'....while never engaging on anything political in discussions (mostly talking about the Braves, NCAA football, weather, and Bible scriptures).
Sixth, eventually....someone will start to suggest that ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) exists....as does BDS (Biden Derangement Syndrome), LDS (Lincoln Derangement Syndrome), and even NDS (Newsom Derangement Syndrome). A list of 3,000 DS's will eventually be drafted-up. Odd ones will start to pop up....MDS (McDonalds Derangement Syndrome), T-plusDS (Trans Derangement Syndrome), and SDS (Slut Derangement Syndrome).
Seventh, some science project will eventually determine that within the US....there's forty-odd million TDS sufferers. Even in the UK...the number of sufferers will be hinted at 12-odd million. Across the globe....probably 120-million.
Dallas Airport Foot Washing 'Scandal'?
In the Muslim religion....there is something called 'Wudu'. It basically means after a hot-dusty walking (in your sandals)....you need to cleans your feet. (Yeah, it is a Jesus-thing, if you think about the tradition).
For about seven years....at the Dallas Airport....they had a couple of foot-washing stations established. No one said much.
Back in July, the Airport went and submitted a proposal....to add two more stations. A men's area, and a women's area.....in the bathroom areas.
This got out, and a discussion started up. Cost factor? $300,000.
Why? Well...across the US....in airports with no foot-washing stations....Arab guys were putting their feet in hand-washing sinks, and creating hazards. Sanitation also came up as a topic.
This selling easily to the public? No.
But I'd go and ask three questions.
First...if this is a practical idea, and Arabs are traveling around the US....wouldn't you have to have a foot-washing station in every airport?
Second, while everyone hints of a Muslim 'thing'.....isn't it mostly true that long before Islam wrote the ten-odd rules for Wudu....weren't older Semitic, Jewish purity laws, and Zoroastrian traditions doing the same thing?
Third, isn't all of this geared toward sandal-people....not folks wearing loafers....which is the typical footwear of 90-percent of Islamic guys not in hot dry environments?
Then I come to this odd thing....there's probably 30-million people to walk through the Dallas Airport since 2019....that never even noticed the foot-washing stations that already existed. Same thing with the tampon-machines in men's bathrooms....most guys never noticing that either. Funny how we travel and never seem to notice crazy stuff?
Saturday, 15 August 2026
1975 - 2026: How Conversation Differed
It occurred to me....there's this strange 'path' for conversational topics in 1975, and in 2026.
There were usually ten general areas of conversation in 1975.
First, you could bring up the Baptist revival wrapping up....the lack of AC at the church....Minister Jim being let go....Reverend Bob compulsive talk over moral lessons.
Second, you could bring up NCAA football....Coach-Bear's recruitment last year....Neighbor Rick who is going to Tuscaloosa for Saturday's game, or the crappy nature of Bowl selection.
Third, weather. Either lack of rain....too much rain....storm alert....or a 30-minute talk over the best place during a tornado.
Fourth, so-and-so's husband/wife ran off.....neighbor Cal's mother-in-law coming to visit for six weeks....Widow so-and-so hanging out with the bank manager.
Fifth, so-and-so's daughter kicked out of college....such-and-such teacher let-go because of immoral relations with some 16-year old high school gal....or so-and-so's son (age 16) got so-and-so's daughter (age 17) pregnant.
Sixth, cars.....Ford has some new transmission....GM is recalling such-and-such....your cousin's Oldsmobile caught on fire.
Seventh, animals....so-and-so's cattle broke the fence----with 12 escaping out into some snake-infested woods....you've come over to talk of buying a herd of donkeys....beef prices escalating.
Eighth, so-and-so's son has returned from his three years of Marine service....your neighbor is hyped-up to join the National Guard....your cousin was declared mentally unfit for Army service and wants to talk about 'why'.
Ninth, weather chat.....the neighbor wants your opinion of H D Bagley (Channel 19's weather guy) versus Channel 31's 'Lester'. The science-minded neighbor might want you to explain doppler-radar, and you have your 7-year-old kid explain it.
Tenth, advice talk. Neighbor needs your advice on hornet infestation. Your cousin has a snake infestation. Your slutty neighbor gal (the one who wears tube-tops daily wants your feeling over lawn management.
2026?
It's a list of 3,000 topics....mostly in conflict with 50-percent of your friends, neighbors, and relatives. Some of the topics involve stuff that CNN can't talk about....which makes you wonder about out-loud, and getting your aunt all disturbed. Some people arrive at the carport and seem to confessing 700 pages of information about medical BS....which you admit....you might be more of a expert on dog issues/medications. So-and-so stops by....wanting your personal feeling over trans-stuff....with you thinking they mean a Ford transmission versus a GM transmission.
My favorite conversation moment? Somewhere around 1973...some local fellow (Alabama rural landscape) who knew my dad....stopped by...with his dead hunting hound in the back of the truck. The dog had gotten into some five-star 'fight' and died while tangling up with some wildcat. Guy had found the dog, and was emotionally distraught. He wanted to share this woeful moment. My dad...kinda stoic in nature....listened intently for about ten minutes....letting the guy share things. Then my dad suggested a proper burial somewhere and a marker. Our guest wiped his tears away....appreciated the advice, and quietly left. There was some quiet conversation between my dad and I...with him saying....sometimes, you just need folks to share something, and then find a way to get them fixed-up 'right'.
The world has evolved a bit, but we probably just need to give folks a chance to dump something, and tell them to resolve the problem.
Friday, 14 August 2026
Seven General Questions You Can Use....To ID Your Friend's IQ Level
What is the capital of your state?
List the zip code of your local town.
Who wrote Romeo and Juliet?
What is the chemical formula for water?
Approximately when did World War II end in Europe (year)?
From World War II, from the list of USSR, UK, Japan, France, Italy and Canada....who were our allies, and who were the enemy?
How many continents are conventionally recognized on Earth?
If a person can't answer any of these correctly....you can assume the IQ level is 80 or below. If you can get one of the seven....it's likely a 90-IQ.
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