Hallucinogen Landscape?

 Over the past month (after the Afghanistan 'smoke' has cleared), you get the impression from forty-odd people who are insiders with President Biden.....that they all were witnesses to the 'Twilight-Zone-like' atmosphere that existed with the White House from April to August.  

Some seem willing to talk over the episode that unfolded.....some seem very unwilling to talk over the episode.

The problem is....the more that some folks talk...the bigger the impression that you get that either none of them attended the actual meetings with Biden, or that they were all blitzed on some really fine Hallucinogen drugs.

In simple terms....the stories don't match up.  Each person seems to have a slightly different story.

Even if you sat President Biden to the side and said 'yeah, he's got some parts of dementia'.....it doesn't really explain how the other 40-odd folks each carry some different view of things, alternate facts in some cases, or just plain are lost explaining the Afghanistan 'blunder'.  In this case....hallucinogen drugs make perfect sense.  

Maybe they sat around in the White House....sipping medicinal Venezuelan tea from Doctor Jill, or some Doctor Fauci-type guy walks around handing out herbal chocolate from Peru's jungles. 

The odds that the different story problems will continue?  Oh, I'd go and lay down a Vegas bet that five or six of these situations will occur over the next year....each coming to some point where more than a dozen people remember something but in different landscapes.  

At some point the Senate will say enough.....mandating that the whole White House take a drug test and get to the bottom of the problem.  

Immaturity Landscape

 There's this Harvard professor....Jeannie Suk Gersen, who has sat down and analyzed a problem.

The issue?  The invention of 'trigger warnings' for student probably has zero value.

All of this trigger warning business revolves around the idea that kids (ages 15 to 25) might have a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and we need some 'device' to make them feel safe.

But as you gaze at this....what exactly are you making them feel safe from?  

For the past five years, I keep looking at this PTSD-like discussion, the safe-from factor, and how immature this group behaves.  

If I owned a business with fifty-odd people and I had to deal to deal with eight young people with this PTSD-like problem....to be honest, I'd fire them after two weeks.  

My question....where the heck did they come from?  Did aliens just drop them off the back of the ship one day?  Did they get some indoctrination stuff from high school?  Did Chinese communists structure Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to brainwash the kids?  How did all of these folks get the 'I-gotta-save-the-world' agenda?

It's like they all suffered some trauma....being at some major car-wreck or watching the Titanic actually sink, or they all felt the Kardashian 'pain' at the same time.

So the view from this landscape....all this trigger-talk...a total waste?  I see a bunch of immature adults unable to handle plain regular stress.  These are people who shouldn't be in college.....shouldn't be working in any job-environment where stress exists....and can't be trusted to even handle a credit card with a $1000 max.  

A million-plus Americans in this landscape?  That's the really crazy thing about this trend.  

Observations

 1.  This trillion-dollar bill by President Biden?  I'd say now that it's 99-percent doomed.  An enormous amount of the past four months has been tied to this draft bill, and it'll say a lot if this fails.  I'd even suggest two or three of the top forty Biden-staff people quietly resigning shortly after the failure.  

2.  The selling point of President Biden's whole 2020 campaign?  He wasn't Trump, and all that theatrical crazy stuff would go away.  

Well....eight months into this....I'd say the Trump-crazy-factor for President Biden and team....is maxing out at a solid 'ten'.  This was supposed to be a quiet year and getting people to a 'norm'.

3.  SECDEF Austin says the collapse of the Afghan Army took him by surprise.

If you go to any Marine or Army member who served in Afghanistan....they'd tell you in a blunt way that the collapse is NOT a shocker, and it was a sure bet in Vegas.

4.  Will 'Dog' find this Laundrie in Florida?  Probably not....but I'd put the potential at 5-percent of a chance.  Here's the thing....Floridians want 'Dog' to succeed on this, and are likely to help him....instead of the FBI.  That's the sad part of this whole search....the public perception of the FBI is so bad at this point.  

Taxes Story

 “There are some... who argue that in the past, companies have passed on these costs to consumers. We feel that that’s unfair and absurd and the American people will not stand for that.”

-- White Press Secretary Jen Psaki responding to a reporter who says that proposed tax increases would trigger taxes to increase on the 'little guy'.

Never in the history of America (over 200 years) has taxes been imposed, and service/companies didn't pass the tax to the consumer/user.  

Psaki can talk about this and pretend an alternate universe exists....but companies will assess each tax....form a new business model, and quickly move to up their price.

This lack of economics knowledge?  Well....this is why I'd suggest that as people finish high school or college....they take a hundred days and just travel around the country to view reality.  

Why Aliens Wouldn't Want To Confess to Visiting Earth

 I generally have five ideas in my head revolving around the UFO/alien visitation business:

1.  If you were advanced (from 100 years more advanced to Earth technology, to 100-million years more advanced)....why do more than observe?  

2.  The Freak-Out problem.  Just in the US alone....there's probably more than twenty-million people who would not be able to handle such an announcement. Add onto it...the alien dudes might admit that they are the ones who delivered man to Earth around 200,000 years ago, that they orchestrated the Jesus-story, and that Elvis was one of their guys.

3.  As they gaze around....they figure at least a dozen different alien cultures have observation posts on Earth, and they've all been sold on the idea of remaining anonymous.  

4.  Once returning to the home-world....how would sit and describe President Biden/Trump?  No one would believe you.

5.  After you'd been talking for about six hours.....your alien buddy 'Gorg' would stop the chat and just say it's all BS.....you can't be serious about these crazy Earth folks. 

Booster-Chatter

 Some poll group asked a bunch of Americans (non-vaxx folks) how they feel about the Covid booster shots.

Response?  71-percent said that Covid booster shots means that the vaccine doesn't work as advertised.

I sat and pondered over this.  

For around 22 years of my life.....I got herded into the situation to get the flu vaccination each year (the Air Force felt it was 'good' for me).  Did it work?  I'd say that in ten of these years.....I still had the flu.  Sometimes it was for just 24 hours....sometimes for three days.  

So it hit me.....if I got the flu vaccination and still got the flu....shouldn't the Air Force have mandated another booster flu-shoot then?  It would seem logical. 

But another thought hit me as well.  If you had the vaccination shot, and four months later....had a antibodies test to tell you that it's already time for a booster.....and in four more months....the next test says it's time for another booster, wouldn't this lead to massive number of booster shots over a four-year period?

I suspect that as soon as you came to mandate booster #2....more than half of the pro-vaxx crowd would draw a line and say that's probably the limit.  So all of this negativity and vaxx-hype would double?  More or less.  

You can ask yourself....would you be taking the flu-shot and the flu-booster shot three times over one single winter.....to prevent the flu?  I would suggest more than half would just start laughing over the suggestion. 

Covid Immunization Made by God?

 "We are not through this pandemic. I wished we were, but I prayed a lot to God during this time and you know what, God did answer our prayers. He made the smartest men and women, the scientists, the doctors, the researchers — he made them come up with a vaccine. That is from God to us and we must say, ‘Thank you, God. Thank you.'"

-- Governor Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y. (the new governor, while preaching from the pulpit in Brooklyn on Sunday).

Kinda new on the approach to getting people to take the vaccination....saying it's God's gift/creation.

The only people logically then against it?  Well....they'd have to be atheists'.

Should Biden have taken this route and said that it was a Jesus-solution?  Well....the problem here is that President Biden would have said he was friends with a guy named Barabbas in his college days.

Maybe 'Normal' Isn't Normal

 Journalist: "How many Americans need to be vaccinated for us to get back to normal?" 

President Biden: "97%, 98%. I think we'll get awful close. But I'm not the scientist. I think one thing is for certain. A quarter of the country can't go unvaccinated and us not continue to have a problem."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat and paused over the question and the answer.

Why 97-percent?  Why not 100-percent?

But the next question is....what brings you to normalcy?  If you still had 300 people dying each day in California but 100-percent of people vaccinated....is that 'normal'?

What if you had 120 people each day in South Carolina sent into the hospital and on ventilators within three days....with ten dying by the 5th day.....and 100-percent of South Carolina folks vaccinated....is that normal?

What if you had 2,000 kids per day in America tested and positive for Covid, with 10 of them dead within two weeks....with 100-percent of all kids vaccinated....is that normal?

FYI, if you go view flu/pneumonia death numbers for Alabama in 2017.....1,174 folks who died via this method.  In California in 2017, it was 6,340 folks who died via that situation.  

Vaccinated People Who Still Got Covid

 Chris Rock, the comedian

Oscar De La Hoya, boxer

Bill Maher, comedian

Wendy Williams, promi

Hilary Duff, actress

Jessie Jackson and wife

Kevin Connolly

Paul Stanley, KISS band

Corey Taylor, acter

Barry Sanders, former NFL star

Melissa Joan Hart, actress

Piers Morgan

Nine members of the NY Yankees

List goes on and on.

So what you can take is that the vaccination has a certain effective range, and then, it ends.  The lack of science reporting/data collection?  It'd just lead to ask....why can't one simple 30-minute test be developed to say you have antibodies to mount a defense or not.  That should have been developed back in the early spring.  This shouldn't even be regarded as rocket-science.

Observations

 1.  62 vessels waiting (parked) at the LA port.  Huge backlog.  

My prediction?  At least three Mexican ports suddenly take on more business, and you see half of the LA port yearly business suddenly disappear.  

2.  This $600 transaction notice at your bank going to the IRS to 'monitor' rule?

What's pushed in this legislative piece in front of Pelosi currently is the rule that would force banks to report to the IRS each time you touched or moved $600 or more.  

Probable cost factor?  I would imagine banks making up a new monthly fee (if this occurs).  Just a wild guess, but it'd probably have to be near $5 a month minimum. 

Banks or businesses happy?  NO.....a lot of anger over this idea.  

3.  Governor Newsom (California) signing document to allow non-Americans to be on state employment rolls?  More or less.  

Binge-Watching

 Over the past month, via Netflex and Disney-Plus....I've binge-watched three series.....two successfully, with one a miserable failure.

First, with Y:The Last Man (the miserable failure).  Basically, something has occurred where all men on Earth are dead except some dude who seems to be very unlikeable and women are mostly running things. 

I made it through about two episode and then just called it quits.  To view this....the women all seemed muddled-up....the guy was intensely dislikeable, and all of this was a non-comedy (yes, made into a fairly serious piece).

Whoever came up with the idea....wasted a fair amount of money and time.

Second, Squid Game (South Korean).  Nine episode and I have to admit this was a fairly creative script.  On story content.....one to ten....I'd give it a solid 'nine'.  At the conclusion of episode eight....you might think you've got the ending figured out?  Well....no, the ending will twist a bit.

It's a pretty dynamic 'jungle-camp' situation, where players die if they don't perform well.  

Third, 'Sex Education'.  The third season came out recently, and I have to admit....I never watched the first or second season.

Best description?  Shakespeare with a heavy twist on sexual issues and teens.  On the script? I'd give it a 'ten', and at least eight of the people you see on the screen (in their 20s) are probably destined for major roles in the next decade.  Hint: this Ruby character finally delivers five-star moments in the third season.  

A comedy?  A drama?  A romance piece?  Basically, it's got everything. 

As for the peak?  There is this piece toward the end of the third season, where the school trip to France has occurred (I actually watched the episode twice).  

Reviews say it's going for a fourth season, and it's worth a binge-watch.  

What Joe May Admit

 "Take a look at what I inherited when I came into office, when I came into office the state of affairs, where we were.” 

-- President Biden this week

I sat and read through the quote.  Generally, most all first-term Presidents say this.  Some more....some less.

The problem with this....President Biden was VP Biden and Senator Biden.....so he should have a ton of expertise in handling things.

At some point in 2022, I expect some journalist to finally ask the question....if you know that Trump is having that much affect on 100-odd decisions you've made...what are you doing to counter the Trump effect?

At that moment.....Biden will probably freak out.  He'll have to admit that he's already doing everything possible to counter the Trump-effect, and it's having virtually no effect.  

Public realization that Biden can't counter Trump?  Well....within hours, mental health clinics will be getting calls.....Trump-haters showing up and in serious declines of their mental state.  President Biden has admitted something that sets everyone into a vast spiral. 

Pretty weird future, if you ask me.

Harris Chatter

 I sat and watched this morning....a nine-minute piece of VP Harris on the 'VIEW' (from this week)....off YouTube.

First, the impression I get is that Harris's crew had the questions at least three days ahead of schedule, and they weren't exactly that difficult (stuff you'd ask your barber and expect a marginal response to be given).

Second, it was barely nine minutes of exchange....probably 90 seconds of that related to question-asking.

Third, Harris didn't really answer the Border Patrol horse assault on those refugees.....suggesting they 'split' the reins instead.  I got the impression that some horse expert explained reins to her, and before this event.....she'd never used the term 'splitting' reins before.  

Fourth, nothing Harris said was a goof-up, like Biden would accomplish.  It was like talking to the pizza kid over the Braves and the kid suggests a new trade deal possible for a better 3rd baseman.  

Maybe Harris ought to do this weekly....via the View, and hope to convince some folks she's slightly better than Joe.  

Trillionaires, Your Next Worry

 “I’m running to change the dynamic of how the economy grows.  I’m tired of trickle-down. Trillionaires and billionaires are doing very, very well. You all report it.”

-- President Biden this past week

Well....I sat there looking at the statement.  Trillionaires?

So I googled up the term trillionaires and asked who they were.  Well....there are NONE.

There are around 2,800 Billionaires in the world.  Eight of the top ten are Americans.....one an Indian, and one a French guy.

If you drew a spreadsheet and figured the rate of 'climb'.....we are around six years away from the first guy being announced as a Trillionaire.  If I were a betting man, I'd even go and say that Elon Musk will be the first Trillionaire.

So, what was on Joe's mind?  Unknown.

As far as I know....no journalist has ever written the term trillionaire....up until the point where Joe talked over the issue.

This coming from President Jill, President Kam, or any of the dozen-other people supervising President Biden?  There's probably three or four people worried about this trillionaire business and expressed it to Joe.  

But as to the scheme here....getting them to pay their 'fair share'?  Well....I wouldn't worry, some idiot Senator is busy writing tax code and will ensure a code or two will ensure a fake 'fair share' will exist in some manner.  

Kinda funny if you think about it.  

Observations

 1.  This whole McConnell 'brand' of Republican politics?  It's fading and probably won't exist in the period after the new House is elected and in place in 2023.

2.  This whole Gabby Petitito story?  As you gaze at this....you need to remember that probably fifty of these type of murders or assaults occur each single week across the nation.  You can sit down with various older police and they will vouch for a dozen odd cases they've responded to each year.  

3.  This disappearance of Brian Laundrie?  I don't buy the story that he's in the swamp.  It's a bit ridiculous.  He's not the survivalist type of character who'd do something like this.

4.  This rumor of Apple developing an App which would tell you that you are developing dementia, depression, or anxiety?  Somehow, they found some medical folks and App writers.....who are keen to this idea.  

A dangerous idea?  If your I-Phone comes up and gives you a 'hint'.....do you trust the hint enough to go over to a doctor?  Will your doctor even agree with the Apple App?  Well....that's another totally different problem.

I kinda think in ten years.....this Apple App and Google's Alexia will 'marry-up' and you end up talking to Alexia for two hours a day over your anxiety or depression problems.  

5.  The US Navy says they will be closing some base libraries to save money.  Wise thing I think.....Navy people are getting too smart reading books.  I also think the Navy should advise members not to wear underwear.....would save money if anyone skipped underwear of all types.  (sarcasm)

6.  Someone asked the Homeland Security 'boss' if any of the 15,000-odd Haitians down in Texas....crossing the border....if they'd been tested for Covid.  'No' was the answer.  Whole administration policy on migration/immigration....likely formed by a 12-year old kid at some summer camp.

7.  Al Sharpton showed up in Del Rio....supposedly to talk over the migration mess.  Hecklers became such a problem....he just packed up and left.  

What People Don't Watch

 As a kid growing up in rural NW Alabama....I had three networks which delivered a 30-minute nightly local newscast.  

My folks were mostly a CBS-type.....so you counted on seven things to appear on this local news piece (1970s): (1) bank robberies, (2) new malls, (3) traffic accidents involving five cars or more (one car accident were rarely worth getting excited), (4) federal stuff with the Arsenal, (5) weather predictions, (6) tornado chatter (this would go on for an entire week), and (7) farm/drought reports.  

The weather stuff?  It was presented by some stern WW II weather guy, who could have stepped out and delivered Shakespeare if you'd asked him for a line or two.  If he uttered the phrase 'potential tornado'....you sat glued to the TV and expecting some serious chatter.  

My brother (still there in the region) brings up this topic.....that things have kinda changed. 

Around three months ago, I attempted to watch two or three of these broadcasts (data-streaming).  Mostly what you got were fifteen minutes of Covid-chatter and Covid-vaccination business.....some brief sports, and five minutes over the weather.  I sat there shaking my head.....no one much is going to watch this.....over and over....nightly.

Like he says and I've watched once this week.....it has changed slightly.....now carrying the insurrection stuff out of DC....some crime stuff, local weather, and local sports.  Again, it's mostly stuff that locals wouldn't care for.

It's kinda funny.  All you had to do is carry local news that folks cared about, and they'd watch your piece.  

Observations

 1.  Apparently President Biden, President Jill, President X, Y  and Z....were all sitting around and watching the under-the-bridge episode at the Texas border play out....then noting (via the Fox News coverage, since CNN doesn't tell this story) that Customs Border Patrol came in on BIG horses.  Word quickly came to the Patrol guys that horses are forbidden.....too scary for the poor Haitian folks.

I sat and thought about this, and agreed.  To be honest.....bald and shaved Patrol dudes are too scary for me.....they should be forbidden from patrolling.  Also, exceptionally tall Amazon-type women are too scary for me, so they should also be forbidden from patrolling.  

I'm also scared of exceptionally intelligent Patrol folks, so they need to be forbidden from patrolling.  Also, I'm fearful of Patrol folks who wear sunglasses that reflect like a mirror.....so they gotta be forbidden from patrolling as well.  I think that only leaves Marvin (the only safe CBP guy in Texas).

2.  The CIA came up and admitted literally dozens of cases at the Vienna embassy.....with that Havana-syndrome business (radio frequency waves by some 'bad-boy' characters).  What they 'hint' is that folks would report health problems and the guy/gal marginally did the 'right-thing'.  

3.  President Biden had to go and make up some apology to France....to get the French ambassador to come back....because of that Australian sub business.  My take?  I don't think Joe ever knew anything about the sub deal, until someone on his staff told him it was done.  If you did bring up subs around Joe....he'd probably tell you about his years in the Navy and how he was a sub-driver back in 1962 for six months.  As for the apology?  It kinda makes you wonder who wrote the piece?  Maybe Hunter or his wife?

4.  There's actually a poll made up (functional) to ask people if they think President Biden is 'mentally sharp'.  Right now, it's floating between 40 and 50 percent.  Probably not a good sign for the 2022 election.  They need to get scenes of Joe in some lab with the science jacket on, or some pictures of Joe staring through a microscope.

5.  Currently, Auckland (NZ) is locked-down (hard double-lock-down).  Cops got called with a tip....on a couple of guys with KFC chicken (apparently had left their homes.  Will be serious trouble for them.

6.  Finally,  some poll done for the 2024 Presidential election.  Trump ahead of Biden by ten points.  

This Pentagon Non-Vax Discharge Discussion

 Based on chatter from the White House, they want all non-vax folks in the US military to be dishonorably discharged....if the guy/gal won't take the Covid vaccination.  

Several Republicans in the Senate have written language into the budget bill that would forbid that....just giving folks a regular honorable discharge instead. 

Odds here?  Unknown.  Most expect the written language to stay there and be passed.  

But if you were to think about this....dragging a guy into a commander's office and the Lt Col discussing how he's going to dishonorably discharge you over the vaccination....why wouldn't this escalate into a violent confrontation?  

There's no difference between dishonorable X and dishonorable Y, other than you probably will get a month or two in some stockade for punching the poor guy.

All of this will naturally stress officers out.  

I don't see a problem in just pulling out the guy's contract, and just terminating it....with a regular honorable discharge.  The general fear of the Pentagon planners?  Well....you could be opening up a door where 70,000 people (remember this goes across the board, active duty to Guard/Reserve) walk out in a matter of sixty days and no plan 'B' situation on manpower.  In some units, you could be talking about 10 to 20 percent of the unit gone.

The recruitment end of this discussion?  It's best not to bring up that issue.

Observations

 1.  Someone did a poll which says only a quarter of the American public thinks 'Hollywood' is a positive situation on the nation.  I think if you walked around rural areas of the nation....it'd be less than one in a dozen who believes 'Hollywood' has some positive trend for the country.

2.  Parents of this Laundrie 'kid' likely getting charges?  If the cops find any evidence that they knew what he'd done and delayed calling the cops.....then something of a charge would be cranked up.  I feel sorry for them....but that kid is fairly messed up and he'd probably been that way since his teens.

3.  This Biden UN speech?  After watching the whole thing....I'd suggest that some 12-year old kid wrote the piece for Biden, and I'd rank it as one of the one-hundred worst Presidential speeches of the past twenty years (even worse than most of George Bush's speeches).

4.  This HR 5305 bill?  Well....it passed the House (marginally) and would fund the government up to 3 December.  Next problem?  Senate needs to find 10 Republicans and lose no Democrats on this funding.  Odds here?  McConnell says 'no way'.  Might be two Republicans to cross over.  I doubt that 5305 will pass, and come 1 October....the government will shutdown.  A shutdown lasting four to six weeks?  Yeah, I'd go and predict that the next month will be pretty miserable for the Democrats and Joe Biden will not be an asset in this deal-making period.

5.  Someone tried asking Bill Gates questions on Epstein.  Gates appears (at least in the video) to just freak out.  Just makes you wonder what developed between Epstein and Gates.  

6.  Some new poll existing now...saying Donald Trump was more approved/appreciated President than Joe Biden is....today....among registered voters.  No one says if the voters in question are living voters or dead voters though.  

It Ought To Be A Rookie Presidency, Based on Results

 I was reading a piece yesterday, and then it kinda hit me.

If you added up all the 4-star mistakes of the Presidency in 2021, the chaos in the government and the weirdness....you'd think for a minute that the Presidency was occupied by a 44-year old first time out-of-the-woods lawyer, with no knowledge of the world, and has hired people like himself for the cabinet posts.  

But the fact is.....you have a pretty senior guy (8-years VP, 36 years in the Senate).  

Yet you look over the year.....the immigration problems, lack of legislative progress, the Afghanistan blunder, the treatment of France in the sub contract, poorly designed speeches, etc.....then you wonder about things.

How to explain the rookie actions?  It has to be a committee/group of five to eight people actually running the Presidency.  That's the only way to make sense out of this.  

Observations

 1.  This whole Brian Laundrie episode in Florida is just plain crazy.  Do I believe he's out in the swamp area?  No.  He just doesn't seem to be that type of outdoors guy to survive like that.  Why he got into some murder episode?  Based on the video of him and the girlfriend by the cops....I'd say both were a bit crazy and on medication of some legal type.  

2.  Senator Manchin has said that he wants Joe Biden's Trillion-dollar package held and worked in 2022.  Yeah, I'm serious on the story.   I would suggest this....if he gets it anchored down.....there's zero potential that some 'gift' like this occurs in 2022, and it just dies off right there.

3.  Rumor has it that one of the murder convictions on the Floyd case....is to be thrown out in the next week or two.  All of them?  No.....so far, this one conviction is the one discussed.

4  If Trump decides to run.....how set is Joe Biden in 2024 to run again?  20-percent?  80-percent?  How thrilled would the public be if Joe Biden ran another term?  

The Problem With Biden's 'You Need to Pay Your Fair Share' Mentality

 I sat and watched that speech this week....where Biden proclaimed himself a capitalist.  Then he gave the line.....'I'm not asking for much, I just want the rich to pay their fair share'.

Well....everything is based on tax code, which idiot Senators and idiot House members wrote.

The tax code that exists.....all 80,000 pages....has nothing in it geared toward 'fair share'....nor has it ever been a priority of the code.

So I'm confused.....is Biden that stupid?

The comment 'evade' that Biden uses?  No....they use the code that the idiots wrote.  

Fixing any of this?  No....it just makes it more complicated and tie more time into defending your self-made wealth.  

The 'Milley-Man'

 This idea came to me last night, and I'll lay out.

Basically, Presidents are often sitting on the toilet, cooking muffins, hunting bears, screwing interns or hookers, drunk off expensive French Champaign, hyped-up on medication (legal and otherwise), sleeping, or in a daze of dementia.

So what I suggest is that we hire up seven four-star generals (having no real function in life) who have a eight-hour duty shift to be there with the nuke-case guy.  

The general would just take over things, when the President wasn't capable.....announcing the nuke war.

This wouldn't be the Pentagon four-star....it's just be a routine four-star guy who accompanied the President everywhere and would press the button if necessary.

This conflicting with the Pentagon chief four-star?  No.  You'd tell these nuke four-stars that each of them have a bigger four-star than the Pentagon guy.

Do we need to make this into the Constitution?  That's the amazing thing.....you don't have do anything.  Milley already proved that it's totally legit.

We'd just refer to this four-star crew as Milley-Men....give them a nice jacket to war.....some medals on their chest, and they'd officially/unofficially be running the nation....when the President couldn't.  

Shun?

 I sat and watched a piece off CNN yesterday.....a Don Lemon segment...mostly amazed at Don's 'advice'.

So he more or less suggested that the best way to handle the non-vax crowd....was to shun them.  Yes....shun.

I hit mute at this point.  It was one of those moments where you need to reflect up the 'advice'.

Shun business is not new....it's been around for over 2,000 years.  It gets brought up in Titus 3:9-11, and over in Matthew 18 (not that I'm that much of a Bible reader).  One curious thing....this shunning stuff didn't get mentioned by the Jews in the Old Testament.....it only gets dragged out by Christians in the New Testament.

The Catholic crowd?  Well....they wrote up some 'regulations' and tended to expect you to shun anyone kicked out of the church.  The non-kicked-out-but-not-Catholic crowd weren't included in this business.

Amish folks do shunning but mostly for those who left the 'sect'.

Muslims do a lot of shunning (Al-Wala wal-Bara).  Anyone who is not in the extreme version of the religion....is to be shunned, period.

Around a decade ago, the Russians wrote up a law (Dima Yakovlev law) that said because Americans were so 'screwed-up'....it was legal on various aspects to shun them.  

To be honest, I've substituted 'mute' for 'shun', and it works the same way.  

As for where Don Lemon got this idea?  It would be curious for him to explain how it popped into his head.  

'I Want to Save the World' Delusionary Syndrome

 For several years, this topic has been on my mind. 

In some ways, as Marvel arrived with their various movies.....with the environmentalists and far-fringe crowd....I believe a fair number of people have reached the point where they wake up each morning, and hype the idea in their mind....'I need to save the world'.  This delusion gets reconfirmed as you read the news of the day....hear such-and-such politician....then talk to your minister, your neighbor, or your weed/crack-dealer.

Everyone wants to be an 'Ironman'.

You've got Greta kids talking in this manner.....college kids talking this way....generals in the Pentagon talking this way....even Hollywood types talking this way.

Across America, there must be 40-million people who are actively trying to save the world.  It's become their whole focus in life. 

This general at the Pentagon?  He just wanted to save the world, and it seemed to make perfect sense to him.  The problem is....there's probably over 300 people within the Pentagon with the same delusionary syndrome, and they might react in some way against the General....to save the world as well.  

'Dog Crap' Left For Biden to Clean Up

 With all the dementia chatter and Afghanistan chatter....this week, President Biden was given an enormous amount of 'dog crap' to clean up, or just pretend it never occurred....with the General Milley episode.

He has four options:

1.  Do nothing and just hope things go away.  This might work until January 2023, when both the House/Senate flips over and it's GOP.  For that entire summer....it's hearing after hearing over what Milley did, how Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer are involved, and who in the NSA, CIA knew about Milley.

2.  Hope that Milley reaches some level of the Admiral Boorda situation.  

3.  Fire Milley, and just avoid hearings.

4.  Talk the Democrats into having hearings, and focus it all on poorly behaved military idiots.  

The problem here....each month that passes with no real action....gears up the mid-terms to be a bigger than average mess.

Added to this burden....if Milley believed Trump eventually became a problem and took away his nuke-power.....wouldn't the same logic occur with Biden?  If I were Biden.....something serious would have to occur (sooner than later).  

Turkish Coups Since 1960

 Well....the first was the 1960 coup d'etat, which took all of one single day, and revolved around 30 to 40 young officers.  Chief reason given?  Well....the PM was working up a 'deal' with Moscow.  In this episode, roughly 230-odd Generals were 'retired' along with 3,000 odd military officers.  Around 500 prosecutors and judges were also 'let go'.

Summer of 1962 attempted coup d'etat?  Failed.  This was an attempt to just say the military ran things better, and they wanted the politicians totally out of the picture.  The guy who lead this attempt?  Basically 'let go' and told to go home.

May of 1963 attempted coup d'etat?  Well....led by the same clown as the year prior.  This failed as well.  This time, the government brought the guy in....sentenced him to death, and was hung in 1964 after a court episode.

Spring of 1971 Military 'note' coup?  Well....the military generated a letter and basically said they were in charge.  It was felt this way would be bloodless (note, several hundred individuals were executed or killed in this coup by the end).

September of 1980 coup?  Well....it was decided by the military that the country was politically out of control.  The chief of staff of the military took charge....running the country for 3 years.

The supposed 1993 coup?  This is argued a good bit.  There are probably a dozen events that occurred, which lead one to imagine a coup was underway but then other events suggest otherwise.  One element here....peace talks between the gov't and the PKK....which the military did not approve of.

The 1997 coup?  Well....the parliament was not sent home, so some folks argue this was not a real coup.  The actual government bosses?  They were sent home.  Anyone killed?  Most folks say 'no'.  

2016 Erdogan coup?  Well....this is the most unusual coup of all time.  There are elements of the military which had a planned coup in place....ready to go, and suddenly President Erdogan shocks everyone by knowing the entire plan.  Thousands of military arrested/detained, and coup ends in one single day.  Why no coup has occurred since then?  Mostly because people believe that Erdogan has certain people in place and report on activities of the military each single day.  

The attitude of the military in Turkey?  Politicians are a waste of time.....you need real authority without talking.  It would appear since 2016....that attitude has finally ended.  

Observations over the General Milley Episode

 1.  Once he decided that he would 'save' America....he went off his oath to the position he held.

2.  The chatter of the China telephone call?  If proven, on that alone....he can be stripped of rank and retirement.

3.  Taking control of the National Military Command Center?  Once this is laid out....I suspect the NMCC will be removed from the Pentagon entirely.

4.  Milley committing suicide by early 2022?  I'd give it better than 70-percent odds.  

5.  Chief question to be asked now of Milley....if he senses President Biden is out-of-control....will he also take power in that situation?  If I were Biden....this would be on my mind every single morning....wondering if Milley has taken control today or not.  

6.  The longer that Biden or the Democrats do nothing?  It creates an enormous wave to fire most of the military leadership in 2023 as the new House leadership (Republicans) arrive.  It wouldn't even shock me if a new strategy arrives where half the four-star generals are dismissed, and the new crowd are limited to three-star rank only.  

7.  A basic coup?  If you go back to the old history of Turkey....up until Erdogan....these military-general coups were common-place....always to 'save' Turkey from the evils of politics.  It's a carbon-copy of that era.  

8.  If Milley and the Democrats think this can just be survived?  Well....by January of 2023.....things will have brewed enough that various House hearings will be held, with charges drawn up and Milley (probably with forty-odd officers within the Pentagon) will be drawn to hearings and face utter contempt.  

9.  Every member of the NMCC?  They basically have done enough crap to lose their clearances as a minimum.....if you were a person of authority....probably your career is finished entirely.

10.  So to House Speaker Pelosi.....the fact that Milley had various conversations with her....probably puts her days as the Speaker in jeopardy as well.  Fear sweeping around the Democrats in the House that this whole Milley-thing adds an unknown burden to their election campaigns in 2022?  Yeah, and I would suggest that some of them will ask for Pelosi to step down as speaker, and perhaps even resign from the House entirely.  

In simple terms....you've got some 5th-grader kid who pretended his way up to four-star general, and he has the maturity level of a 12-year old kid (at best).  

Teacher Story

 There's this story which has been brewing for a couple of days.  Basically....this Virginia literature teacher (guy, I would imagine late 20s/early 30s).....who made a public TikTok statment....that behavioral model used in Virginia schools....which stresses kid sit quietly in their seats and listen to the teacher in a respectful way.....is 'white culture'.

His argument?  That all this respect, quiet behavior....leads to 'white supremacy'. 

This discussion has triggered a fair amount of reaction in the district where the guy teaches.  

I sat for a while and tried to imagine how this discussion started up, and how this dimwit of a teacher got the right propaganda to believe the counter discussion.

His present value in the school system?  I'd question it, but here's the thing.....where is his alternate path in life, if he can't be a literature instructor in a school?  He's taken a one-way path in life and to retreat now?  He'd probably end up as a shift-boss at some burger enterprise.  

If kids don't sit quietly in the class, behave in a respectful way.....then you could cross off 50-percent of the goals for learning....for that one single year.  Repeat this over twelve years?  You'd have a kid who was marginally a 6th grader by the very end of twelve years.

This is a guy that I'd send off to the Baltimore school system, and let him simmer for two years.  

Name Story

 There is a discussion going on in New Zealand.

I'd rate this a one-star talk presently, but likely to consume the country by the end of 2022.

The idea?  Well....the Maori people (local natives) want to rename the country.

New name?  "Aotearoa."

It means "land of the long, white cloud".

Odds of this happening?  Well....here's the current landscape of New Zealand....it's hyped up on 'politically correctness'.  I'd take a humble guess that somewhere between 25 to 50 percent of public lean toward political correctness being the standard way of resolving things.  It wouldn't take that much to achieve Aotearoa.

The thing I'd see about this....once you got this situation done and renamed.....what would stop you from renaming Christchurch, Wellington, or Auckland?  

Fake News

 I was sitting and reading through NBC news this morning, and they hyped that German quickie-Covid tests were now under $1 in Germany.  

Well...NO, I can assure you they are NOT under $1.

I priced them at my local grocery just last week.....2.99 Euro....which is roughly $3.50.

Maybe if you went to the drug store and priced up a box of 50 of them.....you might get a deal of roughly 2.40 Euro (around $3) each.  But there's just no one around selling them for .80 Euro-cents (around $1).

Fake News again.

Plain Blunt Truth

 One can say over the past hundred days....Covid has ramped-up (beyond anything that existed in the same period of 2020), and it should not make sense unless the immunization business is just marginally changing the landscape.

But there is another blunt truth here....if you've lived a pretty marginal health situation (low Vitamin D levels, fatty food, done some drug activity, and a list of probably 25 additional things)....then your bout of Covid is probably going to be more severe than most regular people.  

I look at Bama news almost daily, and the tales of 'woe' flow like the Tennessee River.  There's probably half-a-million residents of the state praying for some neighbor, relative or associate every single night.  

Last week, we reached the point where a regular guy had a serious heart issue....begging for entry into forty-odd hospitals in the state, and not a single one had a ICU bed for the poor guy.  As they were transporting him 'out-of-state' (to Mississippi)....he passed on (not from Covid, mind you).

All of this prior to serious fall weather, when Covid will really pick up?  Yeah, that's the problem I see coming now. 

The 9-11 No One Talks About

 Around 28 years ago....26th of February 1993....a couple of Muslim guys put a 1,336 pound urea-nitrate-hydrogen gas bomb device into the basement of the World Trade Center.

Players?  Ramzi Yousef and Eyad Ismoil.

Intent?  The North Tower would have crashed into the South Tower.

Result?  It basically failed.  Bomb engineering wise, the building was built to handle this.    In the end....six people died and around a thousand wounded.

This was the original 9-11, and the Clinton Administration failed to grasp this.

We talk a great deal about 9-11, but no one ever goes back to the 1993 episode and considers what we should have done at that point.  

Lee-Thinking and Biden Chatter

"But it is — the kinds of things — or, you know, the stuff that’s coming out of Florida, the stuff that’s coming out of — you know, “If Robert E. Lee had been in Afghanistan, we would have won.” Anyway, I’m telling you too much."

-- President Biden, yesterday

I paused over this commentary that he made.  Whole thing was a weird deal of ramblings which didn't really fit into some clear statement.  

My pondering?  Well....the comment over Robert E. Lee.

I've spent a fair amount of time in my life reading over Lee, his general strategy on warfare, and his successes.

Lee in an Afghanistan matter?

Lee would have analyzed things over a week and said that a ‘war’ cannot be waged against a ghost-pretender-force, unless you went to burning down every single village where you felt trouble was brewing. 

I might also suggest that Lee’s perception of Afghans was their heart and mind weren’t geared for this type of republic or 'democracy'.

Then he would have ended the short blunt assessment.....that a forever-war....cannot be a end-result/goal. If he could have not 'won' the war within two to three years, then it's not worth fighting.  

Somewhere between 1865 and 2020....we lost this perception of things.

Lee wouldn't sign up to such a war, and Biden's understanding of Lee's strategy probably amounts to a 3x5 inch card....at best.  

The Review Which Will Never Be Done

 I will occasionally read a page over at Defense One....which typically dwells on military issues.  Today, they had a chat with the present Army chief of staff (General James McConville).

So he says...from his own prospective, he wants a top to bottom review of all decisions that led to Kabul's situation and how the US military conducted the withdrawal.

Odds of a Army-sanctioned review?  I give it a one-percent chance of occurring. 

Odds of a Pentagon-sanctioned review?  Probably less than one-percent chance.

Odds of the Army War College allowing several (maybe 50 individuals) to conduct such a review as part of their master's degree thesis program?  I'd give it a 90-percent chance of happening.  

The odds of the White House or State Department providing data or reports to the thesis writers?  Zero.

The problem here is you have one of the five most stupid government concepts since the 1960s (Bay of Pigs at the top), and literally no one wanting to describe how they f**ked-up, nor wanting to describe how President Biden was 'out-to-lunch' when all of this occurred.

It's funny in a way to ponder upon the mistakes made, how they can't be attached to a review, and how the system seems to want to move on.  But if you asked people in 1970 what the Bay of Pigs was all about.....it became this 'mystery' very similar to Afghanistan's crisis.  

Paint Story

 So I was reading a CNBC business report this AM, and this odd story comes out....there's a national shortage of paint going on.

The jest of this?

Several factors occurred in 2021....mainly around Covid, that freeze-period in Texas, a supply chain problem, and escalating prices.

As the stores describe it....sales are at a robust stage, and not slowing down....even though it costs more to buy paint now.

How long this trend holds?  Well....the business opinion is that the trend continues into 2022....so if you did have a paint job on your mind....you might be shocked at what paint now costs, and wondering about waiting a couple of months.  My advice....that couple of months might end up being a full year for prices to drop back down to normal.

So if the wife has been after you to paint the exterior of the garage....explain the money angle to her and hope that she finds a cheaper project for you to work upon.

Just Seems Odd

 There by the end of 2020.....we had x-amount of Covid, felt relieved that vaccines were coming, and felt that the in-hospital ICU business was going to diminish in nature by summer of 2021.

So here we are....Trump gone....Biden in, all this fix-up Covid stuff done, vaccination business hyped-up, and it just seems....if you watch CBS nightly news, read the front page of Washington Post, or view regular Channel Nineteen local news....it's twice as bad as in 2020.  

At some point in August, it almost felt like a relief where the top subject was failure in Afghanistan, President Biden marginally senile, and a bunch of American folks were hiding in Kabul as the Taliban arrived....was a bigger topic than Covid.  

Am I missing something?

It just feels like a Twilight Zone episode....where you were told a lot of things to worry about, but feel good about the future trends.....then woke up recently to realize things now seem twice as bad as in September 2020.  

The bigger question to ask?  Will we reach a point in September 2022....where things are even worse than they are today?  If so....how is this possible?  

Five Stupid Questions

 Over the past 18 months, I've followed a lot of Covid news, discussions, and chatter.  Some made sense.....some made no sense.  So these were five of the discussion/questions I noticed:

1.  Can you get antibodies (not Covid itself) via sexual relations?  Some guy was worried (he apparently was a non-vax type) but he had a worry that he might get some 'bad' antibodies if he went hooking up with the wrong woman.  If you think about this....pro-vax people should only have relations with other pro-vaxers.  Non-vax people should only mingle or have relations with non-vax people.  

2.  Should you disinfect your car after hauling some relative or associate around?  There was some German car repair shop I had business with, and early on....they offered some disinfectant service (I think in the range of 20 Euro or $24).  Some older gal in front of me was asking in some way if this was a good idea....she had to haul some friend in the car the day before. Mechanic guy didn't bat an eye....yep, very wise idea to disinfect the car.  In the first three months of offering the 'service', I bet they had a hundred people a week stopping by for the six-minute disinfectant service.  

3.   Some guy asked on a radio call-in deal....if you could get the virus while sitting on a public toilet.  The response went to some answer like.....there are forty-odd things you could get from a public toilet....already before Covid came along.

4.  At some point early on (Spring 2020)....Berlin police started to get Covid questions....almost on a minute-by-minute basis.  Folks were calling them....instead of doctors or nurses.  The city police had to put out a blunt statement....call us for crime....not Covid.

5.  Someone in the US brought up a question that came from a radio show....guy asking if you wear a condom....would it protect you from getting Covid.  The response went to some counter-question....are you social distancing while engaged in this act (suggesting 3 feet distance).

Immunity Discussion

 There is a great piece off Web MD, written by Hansa D. Bhargava, MD....which talks to a health topic.

Most of us walk around and want to know how to improve our immune system.  Bhargava goes the opposite direction and asks how you can screw-up or diminish your immune system.

Examples?  Smoke weed, have low vitamin D levels, rarely eat fruits, or rarely spend time outside.

I'd recommend a read of the article.  

I would imagine if your immune system was at a '10'....your reaction to a bout of Covid might not be that severe (requiring you to spend a week or two in some ICU situation).  Most of us would only give ourselves a '7' or '8' though.  

White Lab Jacket Syndrome

 When I arrived in 2010 at my Pentagon GS job (deep in the basement area)....I had this closet in my office area (something I'd never had throughout my military or contractor period).  So there in the closet was a white 'lab-type' jacket.  

I asked one of the 'team-members'....what the hell was the lab-jacket for?

So they related that 'respect' automatically came when you wore the jacket as a facility manager.  I stood there for a moment....thinking they were joking.  Well....they weren't.  Course they didn't wear it....mostly because they felt it was a status symbol that they didn't think they deserved.

For weeks, I stared at the jacket each morning and just declined to wear it....feeling that it just seemed awful fake.

As I left the job in 2013....the white lab jacket still sat there.  It was obviously a status symbol....for a job which you'd typically just wear a $49 cheapo blazer and $11 tie at work.  

In the last year or two of Covid.....I've come to look at the white lab jacket crowd, and wonder if their fake status was just gained by the jacket, and not actual knowledge.  It sticks with me each day now.  

Big Whatever

 I noticed this yesterday and it's been on my mind.  The White House came out this week and chatted over rising prices.  What they wanted to blame....were the big-four companies that deal in meat in America.....say Big Meat is to blame for price inflation at grocery stores.  

The problem here....just about everything has escalated over the past twelve months.  

So lets be fair, Big Bread, Big Muffins, Big Bean Dip, Big Beer, Big Soda, Big Pop Tarts, Big Beef Jerky, Big Beer, Big Wine, Big Dog Food, Big Bacon, Big Potato Chips, and Big Nuts.....are all contributing to the inflation as well.  

White House staff members ought to be mandated every sixty days to tour five states in the heartland for a week....to understand the real world.  

So, What is the Napah Virus?

 Back in the late 1990s....this virus started up in Malaysia and centered on swine.  What you can generally say....once it got transferred over to humans, things got rough.

You get a fever, cough, serious headache, and progress onto a breathing problem....then you develop a state of confusion.  

At this stage (probably around the 7th day).....you likely have a coma situation going on (brain inflammation as part of the mess), and the odds of death are between 50 and 75 percent. 

To stop the spread there in 1999....Malaysia killed off a heck of a lot of the pig population in the country.  That basically stopped the spread.

Naturally, you'd say that this is probably ten times worse than Covid.

Well....I noticed that India started up a new worry.....they've noticed the Napah virus there. Down in the Kerala state (south part of India)....they've got around sixty to seventy folks on quarantine....with the virus.

Deaths so far? One....a 12-year-old kid.  What you can take out of this story.....an ambulance picked up the kid and took him to four different clinics/hospitals....where none felt they had the situation to treat him.  The folks in quarantine?  They are all hospital folks who came into contact with the kid during this ambulance trip.

So you add this up. To be honest, with Covid, it's a .1-percent chance of death.  With Napah?  It's around a plus-50-percent.  

You really don't want this thing to go massive....you could wipe out civilization in a matter of two or three years.  

The funny thing about Napah?  Well....you can get it from pigs, or bats.  

Fourteen Months Until Mid-Terms

 Typically, mid-terms are supposed to be some corrective action....where 10-percent of folks who voted for the standing President....realize their screw-up, and vote for the opposing party.   That's the general formula.

This time?  I would go and probably triple the screw-up vote group.  

So, is this just a House/Senate corrective action that will unfold, where the Republicans might actually shock folks?

It's actually more than that.  Thirty-nine governors are up for election as well.

It's probably conceivable that at least four states with Democratic governors....will convert over (California might be one of them).  I might even go and suggest Michigan being another.

Can President Biden even help matters?  No.  

So, how big a mess do we have if you have a majority of Republicans in the House, and 55 likely Republican Senators?  You could start an impeachment process and see this snowball for three months.  Just Biden in the middle of this?  No....I think Blinken (State Department) could easily be dragged in as well.  And you might as well ask if the Pentagon's folks might be dragged into some mess as well.

It'll be a long frustrating period.  

The 'Freedom' Essay

 The NY Times had a guest essay piece on Monday.  This was a liberal piece written by Margaret Renkl, and her theme for the essay was.....there's just too much freedom, and you need the government to just run/supervise things.

She ranted on about how southerners were die in some unnecessary way because they just weren't going to play Covid the right way....they weren't handling natural disasters the right way....they were preventing abortions....and they were fully accepting of gun violence.  

Course, in her mind....all of this lead back to this crazy stuff called 'freedom'.  The suggestion is....there's just too much freedom......we need less of it.

There are several problems in the essay (at least I thought so).

Chicago is the centerpoint of gun violence in America, with massive regulation and government involvement.  There is no way to describe Chicago as a 'southern-city'.  But in Renkl's mind.....Chicago would have to be 'southern'.  

Then I looked over at wildfire management in California.  In Renkl's mind....the fires have to relate to 'southern mentality', but it's hard to suggest Californians are 'southern' in nature.  

Homelessness throughout America?  Perhaps created by some southern mentality?  Well....NO.

Meth curse upon the nation?  A southern mentality thing? No.

Do I think Renkl is totally wrong?  No.  I do believe we need less freedom for journalists.  There should be a index of sorts....which stories you can talk about or stories you are forbidden to tell, with updates listed each month for the general public and journalists to read/observe.  

In fact, we just need less news in general.  The nightly broadcast should be limited to just fifteen minutes.   All of this could be done by governmental control....more regulations, and more 'whatever'.

I might even be more agreeable to less freedom on travel.  Folks should just stay around their home-town or local area.  

Maybe we even need less freedom on sodas.  When you walk into a Wal-Mart....instead of 120 different types of sodas....maybe there should only be Tab, Diet Pepsi, and Mountain Dew.  

Yes, maybe the day has come where we just need a good dose for five years....of less freedom....to wise up and appreciate what we do have.  

$6.4-Billion Dollar Project?

 It came out this afternoon....President Biden wants $6.4-billion for the Afghan folks coming to America.  

Assuming you were talking about 50,000 folks.....it'd be writing out a check for 128,000 dollar for each single person.  

Even if you doubled this to 100k folks....it'd still come to 64,000 dollars for each single person.

The odds of getting this passed?  Unknown.

It is a ridiculous amount and right away....if I were a Honduran 16-year old kid in the US with a new visa.....I'd be asking for my $128k check. 

Who came up with the number?  Unknown.  Maybe Joe was just sitting there in the closet getting dressed this morning.....and the 128 number came up in his mind.  

The Problem With Decision-Paralysis

 Paralysis generally means 'something' has occurred which interrupts your normal movement/reaction.  It should be noted....it could be a temporary thing....or a permanent condition.

In the past ten years, I think a growing number of people have faced what I'd call decision-paralysis.  

You have a plan, which under all normal or pre-existing situations....the plan would unfold, and generally lead you to the right end-result.  

In this new era....after you get a step or two into your perceived reality...you've had to stop and review the mess.  You are hindered from plan A, and now wondering how plan B might built.

But now, in this present reality, your decision process gets more and more crapped-up.  

You watch Channel Nine news and come to realize one evening that they often mislead you on certain things.  You watch Doctor Doom on some CNN interview, and realize his medical advice is not sound.  You watch some idiot from the Bush era (2005) that says five things which are absolutely BS.  You attend some church service where the minister has dished a parable which he has slanted for propaganda purposes.  

You start to reach a decision-paralysis situation.....where you know that you've been fed false information and can't reach a 'feel-sure' stage about the situation.  It's too complicated, and the whole landscape is cluttered with fakeness.

In the end, I suspect most people will start to step back a couple of steps....disregard most news events, and distrust just about everything that the news media generates.  

The Chant Story

 We are into NCAA football season.  Typically, I might care to some degree (I hate professional football these days).

An unusual 'thing' started up this weekend via the college games and televised situations.  Fans at the Carolina Coast game....started a chant...."F**k Joe Biden".  You can go view YouTube and find clips of the game....at least presently.  I expect YouTube to take them down by mid-day today.

Occurring at the Virginia Tech game as well?  Well.....yeah.

The Auburn game?  Yeah, it occurred there as well.

My humble belief is that by this coming weekend....most all football games will have the "F**k Joe Biden" chant going on, and probably spread to professional NFL games as well.

Cutting off the sound?  You might be able to do that that a dozen times...but if there were a hundred chants?  No.  What I expect is fake fan background noise to be geared up for these games by the networks, where you watch an entire game with fake noise.  

This flipping over to major league baseball?  Probably.  

Social and news media having created this 'creature' (the environment that we now live in)?  Absolutely, but at this point....it's like one of those Japanese monster movies where you have no idea where the monster is going to end up in the next scene.  

Just Something to Think About

 So, all this original chatter about Covid/Corona/Wuhan 'fever'....all comes from the suspected 'wet-market' in Wuhan (or if you believe the conspiracy stuff....some secret bad-ass toxic lab).  The creature in the 'wet-market' story is the Pangolin (I'd describe as a Chinese ant-eater).  

I noticed today a Chinese police story.

They (the cops) say they busted this smuggling ring operation....involving 62 tons of Pangolin 'scales' (used in Chinese medicine).  

Apparently, the backdoor Chinese herbal market and home-remedy market....is still active with this Pangolin stuff.

Now you sit back....as an American and think about things.  If there was some virus that started up in Nashville, or Austin....involving some kind of American-roadkill critter causing a triple-bad virus to occur....the last thing on Earth that you'd deal in, buy or make any kind of food out of....would be that roadkill creature.

These Chinese folks?  They went right back to the Pangolin critter.

Either they don't believe the Chinese 'wet-market' story.....or they just like Wuhan-fever type situations.  

Clinic-Hospital Visit

 I went to a clinic-hospital (not for myself, but for the wife).  It was a simple appointment, to a facility that we'd never been to.  Over my entire life (from Alabama, through the Air Force years, the contractor years and since retirement in 2013)....I've probably visited around fifty-odd clinics/hospitals.

So this visit on Thursday was a bit unique.  

I stood there about twenty minutes into walking around (you had to do a fair amount of that).....to gather the perception that about 90-percent of all nurses in this facility....were extremely obese (probably 50 pounds minimum over their regular weight, and by that that....I mean regular non-slim). 

Yes, here were a mix of male/female nurses (probably 80-percent female), from ages 17 to 60....all chunky to the extreme. 

I don't ever remember being in a place like this....in my entire life.

After about three hours of walking around, from paperwork-room-one to paperwork-room-two, and onto paperwork-room-three....I came to count the number of breakrooms (an abundant number), which all had a minimum of two soda machines and one snack machine.  I stopped counting when I got up to around thirty machines.  

In some weird way....there's some Einstein-like formula existing here....where x-number of break-rooms....related to x-number of snack/soda machines.....related to x-number of people....equal heavily obese people of some quantity.  It's pretty much that simple.  There's probably another Einstein-like formula for free-coffee type machines....related to hyped-up highly focused people, or horse-power related to speeding tickets.  

What's Not a Top 1,000-Related Problem

 Ok, so this is for folks who stop at McDonalds, and occasionally (maybe even five times a week) have a McFlurry (their ice cream).

Before we get into the 'problem'.....a moment to talk over calories in the Oreo-flavor McFlurry...it's 570 calories.  Yeah....it's a LOT.  For a normal guy (without a lot of physical activity).....your average calorie intake should be around 2,500.  

So if you stopped and had two regular burgers (250 calories each), medium fries (340), and a medium Coke (220)....you are up to around 1,000 calories for the day.  Add the McFlurry and that's all enough for two-thirds of your daily food intake.  Don't even start talking about breakfast, your mid-afternoon candy bar, and supper.

So, here's the problem....the machine that makes this McFlurry?  It breaks down often...a lot.  Just in general....to make 'soft' ice cream....most all machines have a break-down rate that is dismal.  It's not just a McDonalds problem.  

The FTC has decided enough complaints exist (not really a McDonalds problem), but an industry problem as a whole.....that they will assign people to find out why.

The odds that this will turn into a four-year investigation?  Well....yeah, that is probably a major part of this issue.  

The McDonalds view?  They kinda think that the folks running/filling the machines....aren't that trained, and they suggest maintenance-wise....there ought to be more visitations/pre-checks.

So if you sit and think about it....McDonalds probably would want every single machine to function correctly because if you deny sixty people in an afternoon their McFlurry....they walk away without contributing to the profit of the company.  

Somewhere out there, there ought to be this Einstein-like character....consumed with soft ice cream enthusiasm, and wanting to build the perfect machine.

The sad thing about this story.....typically, the last people on Earth that you'd want to drag in and figure a cause and solution to a problem....is the US government.  

Sick-Days? For Students?

 So I read through this story today....Governor of Illinois....J.B. Pritzker (a Democrat) did the final signing of a law...that basically says students (meaning college and high school) could take a "mental health" emotional/mental day off....without any real paperwork/documents.....or signed by a doctor.

Parent's signature?  No....there's no mandate that Mom, or Dad have to sign the note.

So you'd just wake up on a Tuesday, and think.....'boy, I just feel negative', and take the day off (from the 9th grade).  Teacher asks you the next day where you were, and you respond....you took a day off.

The odds that this expands....to one day each month?  Oh yeah.

The odds in two years that you get a day-off every two weeks?  Oh yeah.

What does a kid do on a emotional day off?  Well...in my old days....being sickly on the farm....I'd watch Gilligan's Island, Password, Phil Donahue, and General Hospital.  I'm kinda wondering what these kids of today will watch (probably zombie movies, or Zoom-Chat with Chinese revolutionary geeks).

Crapped-up?  Well....yeah, I'd say that.  If you came to me about feeling negative...I'd suggest you go haul 100 bales of hay on a warm July afternoon,  or fill a hundred sandbags, or cut firewood for a couple of hours.  

You just end up breeding 'losers' and everyone unfit for any moment of chaos or frustration in life.  

Taliban: 'Yeah, Our Chief Partner is China'

 Via a spokesperson for the Taliban yesterday....the organization confirmed their chief trading partner.

The old version of the Taliban (1990s)?  They would never have gone to some arrangement like this.

So the trend here?  The Chinese will arrive and set up the mining operations, with an understanding by the Taliban not to screw around or bring harm to any Chinese worker in the country.  Whether or not this works?  Anyone's guess.

Observations

 1.  Someone ought to sit down....analyze things....and prepare what I'd call a 'MUTE-index'.  This is where a certain person suddenly appears on your TV, and your mind reacts immediately with the finger going to the mute-button of the TV.  I'd probably have over sixty prominent characters and politicians on that list.

2.  Yeah, that mid-July phone call from President Biden to Afghanistan's Ghani (President) has come up as a problem.  The House Republicans have demanded text of the 'talk'.  They don't have the votes to get it (they will in January 2023).  

It is a repeat of Trump-treatment over Ukraine, and Biden is sitting there in a pretty crappy position.  He might survive all of this right now, but the day will come when this phone chat will be dragged out and impeachment is openly discussed.  

3.  President Biden leaving Friday for another vacation episode?  Well....the rumor started up yesterday that he's leaving for Delaware.  With Americans still stranded in Kabul?  Well....yeah.

The President on 'burn-out'?  If you consider....throughout all those years as Senator and eight years of VP....he's probably never had a 40-hour work-week in the last forty years.  This President business?  If you looked at past history...since the 1960s...it's turned into a 60-hour a week job.  So I would suggest Biden burn-out is going on presently.

4.  Over a hundred generals have signed a letter to the SECDEF and four-star leading the Pentagon....telling both to resign over the chaos of Afghanistan.  

I looked over the letter....it's blunt and direct.  I looked down the list of names and it's a an impressive list of past generals (at least from the Air Force side).  

Will it do anything?  No.  Both characters are there to stay.

5.  The thing about all these US weapons being 'captured' by the Taliban....if you don't have the maintenance contract and parts to maintain them....the weapons are worthless.

This isn't 1966 where various rifles, jeeps, trucks and tanks operated on, and on, and on.

All this equipment is built to fail within certain parameters, and if you don't have some US deal for parts....the equipment is metal-clutter.

6.   Joe Rogan got Covid.  Joe Rogan went to the max-list of drugs recommended.  Joe Rogan beat Covid in roughly three days.  

Note, Joe eats pretty well (at least nutritionally)....works out daily...and from the list of nine ways to get 'bad-Covid'....he doesn't have any of the health issues they talk about.  I'm not going to say the drug business did the deal.  

Note: Joe also likes an occasional bit of cannabis.  Maybe that had a positive trend on the virus as well.

7. Finally, the AP brought up this topic....Chinese government policy came up with a new idea....no more 'sissy-guys' on TV.  Either you appear as masculine....or you don't have a career on TV. 

I sat and paused over this.  After four years of college, and maybe twenty years of working for Channel 9 out of Wuhan....you really don't want some government guy coming into the studio and pulling out the index to show you that your 'look' or behavior isn't manly enough. 

Where'd this idea come from?  Unknown.  But I'd be willing to bet within twelve months....the same index arrives in the US, and 3,000 male TV 'chatters' are told the same thing.  

The he-man era is returning.  

Those Missing Kids Story

 I was reading a piece out of the NY Post this morning.  They say (I assume they aren't lying)....that the administration kinda lost contact with several thousand unaccompanied illegal immigrant kids.

You remember them....the ones released from fed custody.

For some reason, HHS went and tried to make 14,600 phonecalls....to check on those released kids.  What HHS said....around 4,900 were NOT answered by the kid or the parent, or the sponsor.

In a real world situation, you'd call up the cops and ask them to check on the kids.  Here?  Nothing much has happened.

Why?  Well....I would go and speculate that if you had the cops called, and they showed up.....something 'freaky' or weird would be in the mix, and this would be one of those five-page police reports (sounding more like a Hemmingway novel). 

You'd find that sponsor 'Hernandez' probably wasn't the real name for the person who signed for the kid....that they left Arizona two days after they signed for the kid....and indications exist that the 12-year old kid is now working sixty hours a week for some grocery store in Louisiana.  

You might even find a dozen cases where a 15-year old showed up...pretending to be 30 years old, and signed for four kids who aren't even relatives of his.  

So You Voted for Biden and Have Fallen Upon a Disheartening Feeling?

 Just my advice.

First, I'd go down to the local liquor store and probably buy an ample amount (minimum of two bottles) of booze (the good stuff, more than 30-proof).

I'd go to the back forty acres of the farm, or some quiet out-of-sight point on the property, and reflect upon how I felt in 2020.

You know....that feeling that you had that Trump had to go, and anyone would suffice.  You didn't care about qualifications that much, or speeches.....just that Trump had to go.

All those occasions when Joe Biden (the candidate) seemed to be a bit crazy, schizo, or unhinged?  You just accepted as being the norm for Biden.

The dozen or so signs in the spring of 2021....where Joe seemed to be really busy but only had one single hour blocked daily off on the Monday through Friday work-calendar?  It did sound strange but no one via CNN or NPR ever made much discussion over that.

The public chatter that Joe has made since the spring.....where he said things that didn't make sense?  You just seemed to overlook it.

Dumping the border mess on Harris.....who didn't seem to have any real talent at much?  It was like asking the church lady association at your church to handle a meth-recovery group.

So you sip through the bottle of booze for about three hours, and eventually come to this reality....you screwed up.

The sad truth is that you can't fix or undo the mess.  In fact, it bothers you enough....that you vow to mute the TV each time that Biden comes on, or when Presidential news is dumped upon you by CBS, or CNN.  

Now, you start to question your judgement.  You spend hours analyzing yourself, and how you got brought into a situation to believe something.....that was pretty crapped-up.

Out of eighty-million that voted for Biden.....I'd take a guess that 10-percent of them feel this way right now, and by the end of 2021....it'll probably reach the 20-percent point.  For the mid-terms of 2022....it's a harsh reality that will be approaching.  

As things continue down this path....I'd offer the judgement that a fair number of people will simply start taking up drinking....to ease their disheartening feeling.  The liquor industry will do fine in the recession period of 2021/2022....that's my humble feeling.   

The Problem With Dumbass Teachers

 I was reading a piece this week over a California teacher (grade-school) that had decided to remove the US flag in her room (feeling it was threatening), and replaced it with the 'gay-flag' (rainbow design).  The Pledge of Allegiance?  She convinced the kids to say it, while facing the 'gay-flag'.  

Well....this all came out in local news (southern California) and it appears that they've put the teacher on suspension, and having some investigation on the matter.  A sub has been called in for a while (another news piece suggests that), and I suspect the sub might be around through Halloween as a minimum. 

So I pondered over this discussion.

Young gal...maybe mid-to-late 20s.  Probably out of college in the past two or three years.

Dumbass-level?  On a scale of one to ten....I'd say 9-to-10.  Just doing this was bad enough, but then advertising on Tik-Tok that you'd done it....almost bragging on the ease of this....was extremely stupid.

In the late 1960s and up to 1977....I attended what was a rural-region school, and looking back....I had around two dumb-ass teachers.  

Of the two....one was simply not capable of conveying math situations, and was ill-qualified for that particular subject.  Another had a problem with the subject of evolution and would never dare allow the topic to be openly discussed in the classroom.  

My suspicion is that various teachers came out of the system over the past thirty years....with marginal qualifications from the university experience, and probably are more qualified to run a Dairy Queen shop than a classroom.  

So....ask yourself...what exactly will happen to this dimwit when the school pulls the contract out and fires her?  You wasted four years getting a degree that you can't use?  I'm guessing she will find some group to sponsor her and just disappear out of California....ending up in Oregon.  A month or two later....the locals will figure who she is, and ask that she be let go.  

She'll probably end up in some Baltimore school (they will take anyone), and curse the whole mess that she created for herself.

Will kids now start to figure out this dumbass angle and question authority?  I wouldn't be that surprised that a even bigger mess gets created over the next decade....where school kids stage revolutions and the whole system starts to fail.