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'.

A Theory Of Mine

 Imagine being in a cult-like reality....two cults existing at the same time.

One cult is drawn to a Jesus-candidate and Jesus-party.  At the same time, this cult sees cult number two as a Satan-cult with a Satan-candidate. 

The other cult?  Basically the same Jesus-versus-Satan reality.

So the two exist, and do everything possible to destroy the Satan-candidate (actually two of them)....while saying they will resolve your fear-problem.

Some folks try to participate with both realities....pretending to be party-one, while really hyping party-two....and vice-versa.

Seven Humble Thoughts

 1.  Once you establish that a 10-year old kid can go trans....what prevents the kid from saying they 'learnt-enough' and shouldn't have to do any further schooling?  Same way....ten-year-old wants to drive, handle dynamite, or marry....give the kid full-power.

It still amazes me....people haven't grasped this angle to trans-BS.

2.  Deleting all testing requirements for school kids?  I'm all for it....as long as you end school at the 9th grade.  Learnting stuff shouldn't be rocket-science.

3.  We probably need a evaluation and creation of a new word....for whatever exists between teenagers and adults...like 'dumbass'.  You should stay at the dumbass level....until you demonstrate adult behavior. 

4.  Socialism.....mostly works....after you've had half-a-bottle of whiskey and puffed a strong bit of cannabis/weed.  From that point, as long as you have a stock of booze/weed....it continues to work.

5.  Oddly in the oath that mayors and governors take....they generally all have wording to say you will support and follow state/federal law.  Still oddly, after the oath, you might casually say that you weren't that truthful in oath-taking....hoping that the public isn't bright enough to grasp that.

6.  Is there any way that a governor can freeze electricity rates?

No....they may say this over and over....but virtually no state in the US has ever given 'power' to a governor to hold down rates.

If such a order was given....the expected reaction by any electrical company....start cutting power to fit the freeze.  Around 6 PM that night, local news informs you that from mid-morning to noon each day....100-percent cut in power....to help the governor reach the desired freeze-level.

How you react?  Might be interesting for a month or two.

7.  If a guy/gal looks, speaks and acts like an intellectual.....they probably are an intellectual, or at least a gifted fake intellectual.

Georgia Chatter

 Georgia's new insurance commissioner (arrives in January) says credit scores will be banned from insurance evaluations, along with ZIP codes.

The suggestion is that rich whites would end up paying heavily increased premiums...to cover the poor-blacks.

I looked at the scenario....ONLY 3 options:

First, she might get this into place....finding that most insurance companies 'pass' (leave the state)....with a couple staying and doubling everyone's yearly premium.  Even blacks would be paying double.

Second, ALL insurance companies leave the state.

Third, the state realizing the mess....creates a state-run insurance fund....which is influenced by state taxes (to be increased).  This might survive two to four years....before some some hurricane passes through and bankrupts the state enough to trigger some $10-billion loan.

If you live in Georgia....I feel for you....but you basically asked for high-risk lifestyles/politics.