Small Town America

About once or twice a month, I'll see some piece in the news talking about the heartland, and 'small-town' America.  I've come to the opinion that most people really don't know what small town America really means.

Small town, America....is where little league games happen on hot Saturday afternoons, with ice cream later.

Small town, America....is where you know your barber, your mechanic, your plumber, and your neighbor on a first-name basis.

Small town, America....is where you trust your local politician not to cheat you too much or siphon off tax revenues to buy a modern-age statue of a penguin.

Small town, America....is where you go to funerals of people that you've known for thirty years and considered a friend.

Small town, America....is where you go fishing a dozen times a year with your high school friend and your wife's cousin Larry who does transmission repairs.

Small town, America....is where your kids are safe and the porch light is turned off by 9PM.

Small town, America....is where you do charity socials for folks who need cancer operations and don't have much money to cover all their expenses.

Small town, America....is where you attend a local church but never appreciate the minister standing on your front porch and chatting about Moses to you.

Small town, America....is where you get drunk once a year at the high school reunion meeting, and meet with a bunch of guys who are losers just like yourself.

Small town, America....is where pumpkins are grown and part of decoration in October.

Small town, America....is where you keep a gun in the closet by the door, but haven't fired it in twenty years....and its likely that the ammo will malfunction anyway, if you do fire.

Small town, America....is where Wal-mart has yet to arrive.

Small town, America....is where a catfish restaurant sits on main street and you can still get a all-you-can-eat deal for $9.99.

Small town, America....is where your Uncle Barney still tells WW II stories, although half the time he is in Africa fighting the Nazis and half the time he's in the Pacific fighting the Japs.....and the reality is that Barney was 18 in 1945 and had barely gotten into basic training when the war ended. 

Small town, America....is where your wife has tinted her hair and you think she's a new woman entirely. Later, you put on some Barry Manilow music and get her to put on the Madonna outfit that you bought via the internet.

Small town, America....is where your septic tank has failed but you have 44 guys ready to tell you how you can replace it yourself without paying Walt's Septic and Supply to do it for you. After failing miserably, you pay Walt's Septic and Supply to quietly fix what you screwed up and just let your reputation stay intact.

Small town, America....is where a parade occurs each fourth of July with veterans and kids involved. Later you grill some steaks and drink some fresh lemonade. And that night, you watch some kid light up $100 worth of fireworks, which accidentally set fire to some farmer's field and you spend two hours stomping out the field fire.

Small town, America....is where the only murder in the past decade was the local Baptist minister who got shot by some guy who came home early from work to find his wife in a inappropriate position with the minister.

The truth is that we all live in Small town, America....and we really don't care to move or be somewhere else.

Six Things I Tend To Believe Today

 1.  About 30-percent of Americans are secret-support-Trump folks....who hide their feelings from the spouse, the family, the work-place and even the church.  Even in a stage of drunkenness....they have the 'control' to avoid talking about Trump.  

The same group....see the hate-Trump folks....as cult-like and treat them like a low-IQ person.

2.  If you are attending a Bible-college and borrowing $20,000 a year from the fed's.....you are begging society to accept you in the role of 'slave-status'.

3.  When someone says you need to detail something...in plain-English....you need to grasp real quick that something started out uncomplicated....got into rocket-science level, and now the focus is to turn the reading material back into 7th-grade level reading.

4.  Asking a wife how her day was....is not a wise move.  Her response will always be negative or critical.  

5.  Just odd how 10-percent of Democrats today....still linger on how Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election.  Almost two years have passed, and this group continue to get pumped-up and bothered by it.  

Oddly, among this 10-percent group....probably half of them think/believe....that Joe Biden intentionally 'SUNK' Kamala's campaign.....getting back at Obama's involvement in this whole 2024 campaign.

6.  There are occasions that I see fake images/news, and I kinda wish I could UNVIEW them....they linger on my mind.  I debate....well....even as fake images/news, I wish they were true.

Reversal of Lesbianism?

 There was a trend starting up in 2016....young ladies in the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade....who wanted to become lesbians.  At some point around 2020....it took off and went turbo....with 25-percent of 9th grade young ladies...hyped-up and admitting they were lesbian-types.

So the same poll went out last year and the 9th grade girl group....had fallen to around 13-percent saying they were lesbian.  The 10th/12th grade group?  They were still lingering around 17-percent.

My question....what happened in the 2016 to 2020 era to get the numbers so high?

I asked Grok/AI and he brings up an interesting 'twist'....that around a dozen TV shows (some streaming) were prominently featuring lesbian characters.  

A fad?  Well....one thing I noted....around 2020 to 2025....these lesbian characters peaked out.  Either the network saw a reason to lessen content, or they saw a limited story theme to tell.

All of these four trend-lines still in decline?  Yeah, that's another odd part of the story.  I would imagine if they continue to collect data....by 2027....the four groups (9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade girls) will be at 10-percent or less.

Other 'Rages'

I wrote this six years ago, and it's still applicable today:

 Over the past couple of months, I've noted this 'white rage' business being talked about and finally considered that there are other rages:

1.  Farmer rage.  This is typically where Farmer Joe has discovered that Monty (his new bull) has torn down the fence on the far side of the farm, for the 3rd time.  This rage usually means Farmer Joe is going to load Monty on the trailer for a butcher shop visit.

2.  Engineer rage.  This is typically where Marvin has walked into the office on a Monday and discovered the project which he'd been working on, with four months remaining on development and testing....has been cut down to three weeks.  The rage just pours out of Marvin at the sales team and boss.  He leaves work at 4 PM and settles into a 8-hour visit to a topless dancer bar.  The rage drives Marvin for seven days....when he finally delivers the product.  

3.  Professor rage.  This is typically where the university lessen the entry levels, and Professor Fred now realizes that he has people in the class with a 5th-grade level of knowledge and asking stupid questions.  

4.  Farm-extension-agent rage.  This is typically where the farm agent for the county discovers the whole past agenda for the thirty years has been dumped, and some weird agricultural agenda comes down.....which makes no sense to him, or the local farmers.

5.  Trailer-trash rage.  This is where Jeffrey (a trailer park resident) realizes that virtually all of the gals who were in the trailer park have left, and these seemingly intellectual gals (having wrapped up the 10th grade) have arrived, dress decently, and avoiding drinking until after 6 PM.  

6.  McDonalds rage.  This is generally where the manager realizes the nutritional value posters that he was forced to put up.....has triggered people to read the values, the menus, and grasp that 95-percent of the menu is unsafe to eat....so they don't shop at McDonalds anymore.

7.  Intellectual rage.  This is generally where two or more intellectuals meet, and realize they have opposing viewpoints, and argue for six hours over their views....with no conclusive end.

8.  Biden rage.  This is typically where the President walks into the bathroom at 6 AM, and argues in a hyped-up way with himself in the mirror for 20 minutes before realizing it's just a reflection of himself.

9.  CNN rage.  This is typically where sixteen production people have worked for six hours to build a one-hour program with an idiot that they can't stand, and they eventually realize fewer than 400k people from the nation watch their show, with half of them in a mental ward.  

10.  Hispanic rage.  This is typically where Juan is sitting with some work-associate and the guy asks when Juan came across the border.  Juan responds angrily that his folks were in Texas in the 1820s and were part of group at the Alamo (meaning the Texas folks).  

Three Thoughts On My Mind This Week

 1.  I caught onto the idea....wondering....how Californians seem to be locked onto voting Democrat....over and over.

For a long-time....I had the thought that it was mostly bogus voting registrations....illegals voting....absentee-ballot BS.

Some guy this past summer wrote a piece about five or six relatives (they all live in the LA region), and how they will meet up once or twice a year (family bar-b-q), and they confess the screwed-up nature of things, and the economic spiral.  But the same folks are fearful of what some Republican leadership might do....to undo the great gains of the past decade or two.

In simple terms....they got a heavy dose of propaganda, and can't get beyond the 'trust' that they gave the Democrats.

I'm not saying this accounts for 100-percent of the mess....but by the time you count bogus absentee-ballots and illegals voting.....this 'fear' might be 50-percent of the problem.

2.  This effort by the administration to purge NON-Americans off state voting rolls?

In roughly twenty states....it'll be completely successful.  In states like California, Arizona, Oregon?  I see marginal success.  What'll happen in December (within California crew)....I see fed-lawyers going to individuals who voted as NON-Americans, and prosecuting to the full maximum of the law....with 10,000 folks in serious jeopardy of a year in some fed-prison.

3.  This talk by Bill Gates of one-billion dead folks because of AI-doom?

I pondered over this.  Just in the state of California....there might be 500,000 doomed folks.  I could see some phobia starting up....fear of anything to do with AI, and some paranoia starting up....the minute you utter AI involved in your banking or job....you'd go and freak out.

The same folks who fear climate change, or lost a sense of reality over Covid?  Oddly...yeah.

My belief....some stupid politicians will come around by 2028....making a death certificate law....if you died by AI in some way....maybe your death certificate would note that way of death.

It's cult-like....if you ask me.

Working-Class Dilemma

 The 30 year mortgage rate just reached 7.45-percent.  By summer of 2027?  I could see 8-percent rates.

So a $300,000 house, with me putting down $30,000 for down-payment?  Roughly $1,900 a month.

I just don't see that many people under age 30 affording a house.  Go toss in insurance and property tax....I'd need to make $75,000 a year minimum.  

Five Humble Thoughts

 1.  Lot of chatter this week....some factual coming out to suggest folks 'found' Noah's Ark (yeah, kinda found on the mountain side like you'd think).

My belief....somewhere around 1,500 to 2,000 years ago...some religious group put a 'fake' Ark up on the mountainside...to entice followers to make a trip up to see the Ark.  

2.  I sat and watched a 60-second clip of former VP Kamala Harris...trying to explain AI.  By the end....I felt like I was watching some looped-up on heavy doses of cannabis. 

My gut feeling....to make the pro-cannabis crowd happy....we may have to vote in someone into the Presidency once in a while.

3.  Dead-last on my 25,000 things to argue about: how to realign college football conferences.

4.  PM Carney of Canada....made a statement yesterday....that they (Canadian gov') are prepared for ‘risk’ that Trump might order U.S.-led military invasion of Canada

I paused over this.  Carney probably has insiders telling him this...without presenting any actual evidence of such.  

CIA-rogue agents creating fake invasion-chatter?  Yeah...that might be true.

5.  It's just odd....the same people hyped-up, chatty and worried over AI destroying mankind....are the doom-talkers of climate change, and the doom-talkers of Covid.  What are the odds?