If A China Invasion Of Taiwan Took Place

 First, I don't see the naval power of China being capable enough to last more than two weeks, with probably half the 'fleet' sunk by that point.  I also think the quality of the ships and subs would be tested to a significant degree....proving build-effort was at the same level as these crappy apartment buildings throughout the country.

Second, with the combined power of Australia, Japan, and the US on the landscape....the threat would be finished by the 30th day.

Third, as for the trade-embargo likely to be put into force....China's economy would be fully destroyed at that point...giving rise to Vietnam, India and Malaysia being the giants of the region.

Fourth, as this 'war' ends....I expect a massive exodus of Chinese men and women....trying to find another land to live/work.

Fifth, Xi?  He'll be removed by some Chinese General, and the country will go into some serious chaos over the next year, with starvation and riots.

Sixth, Putin's only serious partnership gone?  Yeah, and that would trigger some commercial talk about the future of economics in Russia.  They needed someone with deep pockets to buy natural gas and oil....with China gone, the pockets are a problem.

Seventh....over five-million Chinese men/women entering the US within two years?  Yeah....all walking across the Mexico/US border.  If you think things are bad now....go imagine the Democratic Party trying to figure some 'game' to hook up with ex-Chinese folks.  

This is a scenario that you'd rather not see.  

Five Things

 1.  There's probably around a half-million Americans now....who wake up in a state of panic over Trump.  These people stay charged up throughout the morning, and afternoon over anti-Trump talk.  At night, they arrive home and try to generate talk with their husband, wife, parents, neighbors or kids...about the evilness of Trump.  Some are rich...some are working-class...some are religious in nature....some have destroyed friendships or family relations over this 'passion'.  

I can't think of a situation like this...in the past hundred years.

2.  This odd thing popped in my head over LGTBQ-people.  The minute you bring up the B-people (the Bi folks)....you are admitting that there are only two genders.  I would imagine at some point in 2024....the B-people will be brought in and given propaganda that they have to rename themselves to include the sixty-odd 'other' genders.  This might not be that acceptable, and some of the B-people might say they can't handle a relationship with the T-people.

3.  There's some national anti-obesity 'group' who has come to suggest that yearly measurements have to start up in schools (even in the first grade).  Some element of shame intended?  Yeah.

The problem?  When the extra-chunky teacher or gym-instructor steps up to conduct this measurement.....the kid is going to say something 'hurtful' about chunky Ms Jones, and there's going to some disrespect going back and forth.

4.  Both Senator Sanders and Senator Sinema (AZ)...have refused to say if they are running in 2024 (only two up who should say 'something' by this point).  I don't think either are intending to run.  In the case of Arizona, I don't think the Democrats have anyone of status to run.

5.  The word 'flee' gets brought up a lot over folks leaving California and New York.  Typically, if you asked anyone over the age of fifty, if they have ever had to flee away from somewhere....they will have a immigration situation, and were fleeing away from Vietnam, China, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, or El Salvador.  

Somehow, we have put California and New York into the North Korea status, without thinking much of the status. 

On The Topic Of A Visa

 I sat this week, pondering over how I got my German wife her 'green-card'.  I was stationed in Panama at the time...on my 2nd year of marriage and the base guy laid out the various pieces and parts to this.

Paperwork-wise, it wasn't a big deal (maybe 10 pages of crap to fill out).

Cost factor?  They wouldn't let the base clinic do the physical.  This meant you had to pay some civilian doctor to do it and they kept wanting to lead me to some clinic which would charge in the $1,500 range for 'requirements'.  

Some guy who'd done this the year prior for his Panamanian wife....gave me a name of a cheap-ass Panama clinic...costing in the $500 range.  With everything figured out...I probably spent in the $800 range out of my pocket.

So I look at the modern way of people just crossing the border.  They 'catch' you (it's not really catching as far as I can figure).  They will assemble you at some border station...giving you a $10 sandwich, with a soda. 

Texas will put you a free-bus, and 36 hours later...you end up in NY City.  There?  Those kind NY City dopey folks will put you up in some 3-star hotel, giving you a VISA-gift card....probably loaded in the $3k range to buy stuff.  Monthly, they'd hand you $2,000 for 'stuff'.  Any paperwork for the visa?  They'd fill it out for you, and that stupid clinic stuff would be totally free.

Yeah, today....I'd just tell the German wife to skip all those regular steps, and just hike up to the Texas border, and 'get-caught'.  

Looking Forward Toward The 2024 Election

 1.  I just have this sense that Biden and the entire DNC crew are pretty sure that he (or his replacement Governor Newsom) cannot mount another campaign to get 81-million votes.

Just an odd feeling but they seem to figure things will not work in the 2020-fashion.

2.  Selling Bidenomics?  

Someone on the Biden-team  needs to hire some 2nd grade teacher, with the mentality and talk of Mister Rogers-fame....to spend ten minutes nationally explaining it.  So far, every attempt that President Biden or any of his 20-odd experts on finance....has ended in dismal failure.  

3.  At some point, it will be dragged out that Lincoln was denied on 10 southern state ballots in 1860.  Then it'll be mentioned that they were all Democratic-run states.  And then this Trump denial business on the ballot will hurt the Biden/Newsom campaign.

4.  On five-star damage...the whole thing with Hunter Biden has gone to the level that it makes 'dad' (Joe) look like an idiot.

5  Dumping Harris from the VP ballot position seems to be a high priority but I don't think they've told her that.

6.  Governor DeSantis is finished, and will not be able to ever restart his efforts....even for Senator.  I also don't think Trump will offer a position.....if Trump does win the election.

7.  Dragging Civil War history into the race?  Well....I think folks are desperate enough (stupid enough as well), that it makes perfect sense.  The fact that Latino folks have no ownership of the period, or the outcome?  It puts the Democratic Party in a crappy position in terms of getting them hyped-up.

8.  CNN almost unwatchable at this point?  I tried this past week to get in 60 minutes, but the mute-finger went into action several times.  I eventually gave up.

9.  It's pretty much guaranteed these days....if you have President Biden in some free moment (say two minutes)....he's likely to say a minimum of two things that the White House has to walk back later.  

10.  On soap opera theatrics....there's going to be plenty of stuff in politics to make up for the crappy TV season on NBC, CBS, and ABC.  

That Chinese Balloon Business

 This week, a piece or two of the 2023 Chinese balloon business (over the US) came out.

What the Pentagon came to admit?  Well....it was designed in a pretty simple way to connect to some US internet carrier on the ground....doing a data dump (I assume photos/imagery)....on a continual basis (meaning no satellite was necessary).

I pondered over this. 

Basically, it'd be like me turning to some 16-year old geeky kid and saying I want some imagery of a country....desiring to spend very little.  The kid would suggest some cheap connection deal.  He'd go down the list with Spectrum, Cox, Century Link, Horizon, and Xfinity.  He'd explain how crappy connectivity is with Xfinity, or how limited Horizon is in certain regions.  Then we'd go and sign up with the right carrier.

The engineer who designed this?  I would imagine he's been to a US college and knows some various ways to cut corners....doing thing cheaply.

The fact that you could have 500 of these balloons ready to go?  I would imagine there's a warehouse somewhere and probably just five or six guys running this whole operation.

My Interest In Economics

 At some point in the late 1990s....someone I worked with (in the vault business) had been working on a finance-related degree, and brought in a dozen tapes with Milton Friedman.  I agreed to take to take one of the tapes home for the weekend.

In the end, I had watched all of the dozen tapes they had, and over the next year....I probably consumed four books on pure economics.  

If you'd introduced me to Milton Friedman back in 1975 (in high school)?  I might have gone onto some university program....instead of the Air Force

A dull topic?  Oh yeah....but here's the thing....if you make economics into rocket science, it is absolutely crap and boring.  Friedman knew precisely how to relate various topics to the normal guy on the street....continually telling you that it simply wasn't rocket science.

I can sit today and read over agricultural reports, stock market analysis, futures, derivatives, failed banks, and understand the bulk of what is going on.  But here's the odd part of this 'path'....it's after college that I get into this topic, and it's all on a reading/viewing schedule of my own choosing.  Yeah, I've probably near 500 man-hours of my time into it....with no degree earned in the entire process.  

Yeah, just a hobby....more or less. 

One Aspect Of The Civil War Never Explained

 The American Civil War started on 12 April 1861....what would normally be planting season over the next month for cotton in the south.  Planting went as scheduled, and harvest (picking) came up in September/October.  

However, with the war in full swing....there were two brewing issues.

First, the primary customer for the cotton harvest were the knitting mills in the NE of the US.  With the war going on....no cotton moved to the customers there.  

Second, with naval blockades in place and freezing out the bulk of Europe cotton sales....cotton sat in ports for the most part.

As you might imagine....this left crap for the cotton commerce market, and the banks holding loans of the southern businessmen.  

The New England knitting mills (running with mostly women and children as employees)....for the most part....shut-down for 1861.

By the end of 1861, both Egypt and India realized that they had a massive market now open, and planting season for 1862 went into over-drive.  

By the end of 1862, England was importing around 90-percent of their cotton needs from India.  As you look at France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Germany....their market came mostly from Egypt.  

US farms trying to plant for spring 1862?  Yes, but there's simply no real cash flow, and banks are crapped out by this point.  So there's probably some cotton to be picked in the fall of 1862, but no consumers to buy their product.

The south, by spring of 1863....is economically dead.  Even when the war ends....9 April 1865....it'll be most of a decade when some cotton production starts to occur, and the limited market is mostly to the New England market.  Overseas market, a major part of their business plan?  It's dead....won't be coming back.

States like South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana?  It will be several decades before their economies start to go into a recovery path.

So here's the fascinating thing....by the end of 1861....you can zero out all value of plantations and slaves.  Just in one single year, Egypt and India have taken over the world market.  The slavery business?  It was totally finished....whether the war continued past 1862 or not.  

Why we never discuss this story?  Economics and agriculture are a bitter pill for teachers and historians to deal with and explain to 'kids'.  

Priorities of 2024 Election....Upside Down?

 Someone sat a political function last night (in NH of all places) and asked Nicki Halley....what was the cause/trigger of the Civil War...wanting her to just say something to the concept of slaves/slavery.   Halley paused for a minute.....avoided the phrase of slavery....saying something to the effect 'basically how the government was going to run'.  

She knows in states like NC, SC, and Georgia....one stupid phrase would cease her chances of an election.  

I paused over this.  I've spent probably 400 man-hours over the past decade reading through the period of 1800 to 1860....with 50-odd books. A good bit of this had to do with western trails to Oregon, life in the prairie region, and the spiral going on with relations between the south and north.

It is curious.....158 years have passed and the Civil War conflict has now emerged as a leading topic of the 2024 election.  Republican candidates (other than Trump) are stuck....they are a member of the party that devoted their entire existence in 1860 on ending slavery, but cannot feel a passion for the effort done....158 years later.

The problem in dragging this topic up?  Well....if you were a Democratic Party guy, you surely wouldn't want the public to figure out that you were the party in 1860 to proudly push continuation of slavery in America.

If you asked Biden or Harris over this....both would give you a deer-in-the-headlights look...like what the hell are you asking me over this for?

If you asked college students who participated in the war, or won the war, or was President during the war?  I would guess two-thirds of these college youth would not be able to answer.

Should the Civil War ending be a 2024 discussion topic?  If so....will we eventually go back to discuss the Revolutionary War and how it was wrong to leave the English kingdom business?  Will we go and discuss how winning WW I....simply led to creation of Hitler and WW II?  Will we go and admit that the steroid era of baseball destroyed the sport?  Will we go and admit that 1920 prohibition era was a total joke?  Will we finally sit down and admit that inches/feet should be shredded, and we should go metric?

Yeah, these are all crap-topics and worthless to engage in....but we've made ourselves so stupid....we can't seem to leave some paranoid schizophrenic stage of life.  

As for understanding how things existed in 1850?  You'd have to understand basic economics, the consequences of adding non-slave states to the union, the continual collapse of banks for the thirty years leading up to the Civil War, and downward spiral of agricultural enterprise in the south for the decades prior to the war.  I should also state....behavioral collapse and alcoholism in the capital was daily feature of life in DC.  

Five Humble Thoughts

 1.  If you have some associate or relative who've gone to the dark-side on pronouns and weird behavior....just treat them as if they were afflicted with schizophrenia.  Keep a 6-ft distance and avoid all conversation.   Just note in your mind....they can't rationally think or behave.....with the chatter mostly about imaginary things.

2.  It's not something that I've put a lot of thought into.  Years ago (prior to the 1990s) most all washing machines used a total of 40 gallons of water to conduct one single washing of clothes.  

At some point, that was considered excessive, and new standards occurred....where the washers were mostly designed to use 20-to-25 gallons of water.  

In the past decade, most all washers have gone to a newer standard....with top-load washers using 12-to-17 gallons.  Front-load?  Now in the range of 7-to-8 gallons.

Apparently, the Biden administration has decided to find a way to lessen number of gallons even more.  The day will come in approximately 20 years where you are told to wear the same underwear for 10 days straight....to save on washing.

3. It is amazing to me....President Biden works at a 20-hour-a-week part-time job....yet still requires almost sixty days of vacation per year.

4.   You could ask who participated in the Civil war....who won the Civil War, and ask who was the President during the period...to find that more than two-thirds of college students have no idea to the answers.

So why even bring up Civil War history on CNN?

5.  If you have behavioral issues as an adult, and seem to be acting like a 8-year old kid....then you aren't an adult.  General respect from me to you....won't exist.  

Evolution of News

 I grew up in a rural area in the 1960s/1970s.  For decades prior to that period....you got your news via the local newspaper, maybe an occasional Nashville paper, and the regional AM stations.  Total content?  In a full day....maybe 30 minutes of value.

For my era?  You had three network news groups (ABC, NBC, and CBS).  We were mostly a NBC-user.  Besides the local radio station....on a good night, you could get Nashville and St Louis radio news.  Time, Newsweek, and a couple of oddball news magazines...would drift occasionally into the house.  Total content?  Maybe between 30 and 60 minutes.  

As I left for the real world....I had two sources of news in my first two years of military life in Germany....AFN-TV/Radio  and Stars and Stripes.  The S/S crew gave you just enough material to read through in 20 minutes.  

1990s?  Things evolved.  You now had talk-radio, NPR, CNN and by 2000.....you had various internet sources trying to cut into the TV news pattern.

Since 2010....more evolution.

If I measured things today?   Via Fox, CNN or the TV empire folks....there's probably less than 20 minutes of a week that I give them.  I watch various TV news from the UK and Germany.  

Podcasts?  I can add up a typical week and admit that I watch information pieces or hear conversational discussions....adding up to 20 hours a week now.  

Me engaging into muting?  Yeah, there's various talks or topics that once I hear who the guest is, or the path of the 'talk'....I'll hit mute without much thought. 

If you asked where things are going?  I'd question how the NY Times, WaPo, Newsweek, Time or CNN folks survive in the next five years.  Local TV news?  If the Chevy/Ford/Toyota/GM folks sink because of slowing sales....the primary folks who pay for the local nightly news will go away.

My skeptical views?  It's double what it was a decade ago.  There's forty-politicians (from both parties) that I mute on a regular basis.  I don't really want to hear their message or BS.  There are governors now....that I have zero respect for and mute without much discussion.

Just news alone?  No....sports reviews/news have fallen into the same spiral.  

Twitter having caused some of this evolution?  Oh, there was tons of contributing factors way before Twitter came along.  

The odd thing to really consider....the evolution was fairly slow and moderate through each decade.  In the past five years?  I'd now say that evolution of news is at  pace where we will see AI creating/writing half of the news within five years.  If you wanted a particular brand/message or theme....you will be able to sign up for some service where you get the right voice, the right words, and the type of news you would accept.

Paul Harvey-2030 brand is likely to be re-created, compliments of AI.

I'm not saying things will be better....just more evolution. 

Note: My top twenty-odd podcasts?

- Danny Jones (lot of crazy interviews, some science stuff)

- Soft White Underbelly (interviews with people who've fallen into the dark pits of life)

- I Allegedly (lot of economic, banking and commerce news)

- Girl With The Dogs (for some reason, I like watching her wash/groom dogs)

- Royal Rogue (mostly anti-Prince Harry stuff)

- Robert Sepehr (history stuff)

- Valuetainment Clips (lot of commerce, business chatter)

- Metal Leo (does walks around SF and shows decline)

- Joe Blogs (economic analysis)

- A Word on Westerns (Cowboy movie talks)

- Sepentza (blunt China discussions)

- Godfrey Bloom Official (business chatter over UK)

- Zeihan on Geopolitics (business and stability analyst)

- Uneducated Economist (talks a good bit over US economy)

- Matt Walsh

- Trigonometry (two Brit comedians who take on serious topics)

- The Randall Carlson (science stuff, collapse of civilization)

- Voice of North Korea (Yeonomi Park, 1st class analysis of events there)

- Conservative Twins (two black guys who have a mix of humor and politics)

- 1420 (Russian university student who asks questions on the streets of Russia)

- Peter Boghossian (master of debate and reason)

- Lex Clips (Lex Fridman, science stuff)

- Sabbatical (guy on a long journey)

- Brent Pella (California comedian, does a 4-star imitaion of Gov Newsom)

- News for Reasonable People (real estate expert, talks over the decline on the west coast)

- Doctor John Campbell (medical stuff for the normal human being)

- Darkhorse (science, political chatter from a husband-wife duo....very insightful)

- Joe Rogan

Three Humble Thoughts

 1. Abrosexuality.  This came up in the news and I had to go look it up.

So the meaning is....at various stages of your life (figure from age 13 to 75)....you have various things/partners that thrill you, then it peaks out, and other things/partners thrill you.  The folks making up this definition also say....you could be gay for several years....flip over to bi for several years, then even flip to straight.

The kind of people without many relationship attachments?  Well....yeah, I'd say that you'd reach age 75 with a tally of 300-odd partners in your life, and probably never marry.

2.  What'll really happen at the end of the Hamas/Israel conflict?

I'd suggest that around half-a-million of the Gaza Strip folks will have had enough of the conflict business and Hamas, and find avenues to migrant into Europe.  For Europe to accept them?  I doubt if they will be thrilled about this.

Hamas in the end, without much thinking or thought....will have ceased the need for the Gaza Strip.   

3. I'm of the belief that college loans are on a drop-dead path....probably to occur in 2026....where the government will refuse to participate any longer in loans.  There in a brief 6-month period, you will witness absolute chaos where colleges have only 40-percent of the normal 'new' folks entering and roughly half of the returnees with money to afford the 'gimmick'.

In a flash....dismissals of professors/lecturers will occur at a rate never seen, and shock the intellectual crowd.

Where these folks end up?  Probably in some homeless situation in California.

Series Recommedation

 Last night, I wrapped up a new Netflix short series entitled "Gyeongseong Creature".  Ten episodes of 45 minutes each.

So what I'll say....if you wanted a five-star scripted piece.....I'd recommend the series.  The story has twists and turns....fairly decent acting....a 'monster', and is a South Korean production.  

Oddly, they didn't wrap up the final episode....it simply leaves you wondering  about the creature, and a potential new creature.  Next series?  Supposed to arrive in January of 2024.  

Off Netflix....a good piece if you wanted 'fun' and a good popcorn series to view.

The $20-An-Hour Story

 Come 1 April 2024....in California.....fast-food operations will be forced to proceed to a $20-an-hour pay-scale.

Last week, Pizza Hut in California gave termination notices to 1,200 folks in preparation for this.

Massive scale layoffs to come?  It would appear so.  It wouldn't shock me if state-wide between now and 1 April....probably 25,000 folks are given notice.  

If you do order food?  I would imagine that you can expect double the time for pick-up and delivery service will shock you on pricing.  What was a $18 pizza before....probably will go to $25 to $29 now.

The terminated folks?  Well....with the vast training and expertise in delivery or creating fast food....there's not going to be much of a market...unless you leave the state.

I'm not saying the move to $20 is wrong....but you have to accept the consequences along the way.

'Black Swain' Chatter

 I sat and watched a CBS news piece, where one of their top folk made the prediction of a 'Black Swain' event in 2024.

I had to look up the meaning of 'Black Swain'.  It sort of means....an event occurring out of thin air (no warning) and having a catastrophic affect for the general public.  I know....it's a crappy word-game and poor definition.

To be honest, under my view.....there must be 15,000 of these 'Black Swain' events every year.  That Alabama deputy (Vicky White) who helped the prisoner to escape (Casey White)....would fall under this stupid word-game.

President Biden tripping up the Air Force One stairway.....'Black Swain'.

But the emphasis by the CBS reporter....this would be an event that folks would remember for decades (like JFK's killing, 1929 Wall Street collapse, and Hitler coming into power).

The fact that President Biden got an county-approved plan for a 'bunker' construction project of some size to be built at his Delaware property?   Maybe he knows something about 2025?

This 'Black Swain' chatter just being BS?  Well....yeah, that's a fair possibility.  Course, maybe she refers to some government chatter over the aliens and UFOs....that some crashed vehicles have been retrieved.

Pronoun Chatter

 I sat and read over aa Twitter comment today, and it's been on my mind.

Topic?  Trying to play the pronoun game with hyper-sensitive people.

In dealing with people...even for a 1-minute situation at a coffee shop or pizza situation....I really don't care to KNOW you.  I don't want to know your name, your likes, your hardships, your woes, or your mental condition.  It's nothing personal, but you can figure on a 365 day cycle....there's only about forty people that I meet multiple times.  The other 3,000 people....it's probably a single chance meeting...where I'm asking for a cup of coffee, turning the car over for a tune-up, or asking the butcher just for deli items.   

To get all into this pronoun business....it's like you expect me to return or really get to know you.  That's not going to happen.

If I had to compliment you on clothing?  Well...even when I worked in the Air Force period....other than telling you to get a haircut or shine your boots....I'm not going to say much positive over your attire.  

It just seems like some people are asking for people to get to know them...in some vast way that isn't normal.  

Five Things I Expect To Happen In 2024

 1.  I expect some revealing of alien/UFO technology to occur, and at least two companies named as holding of such technology.  One will be in the military technology sector, and the other in vaccine technology.  Both will have their CEOs subpoenaed to a House hearing, and both will refuse to engage...citing a 1970 Nixon executive order.  

2.  I expect at the Republican convention (15 to 18 July) that CNN will utter the phrase of 'Hitler' at least 788 times in describing Trump.  By the end, some non-CNN analyst will suggest that CNN staged a propaganda show....worthy of the Nazi regime of the 1930s.  

3.  I expect Governor Newsom to emerge out of the Democratic Convention (19 to 20 August) as the Presidential candidate.  I expect various riots and demonstrations to occur...making the focus of the Newsom less productive during the convention there in Chicago.

4.  I expect around 15,000 high school kids to return after summer vacation...to self-identify as 'demons'...with actual demonic names, and acting out as crazy-nutcases as they progress into the new year of high school.

5.  I expect both the Air Force and Army to admit major recruiting problems, and showing a willingness to pay a $100,000 bonus for a five-year contract.  Even that will not change the trend.  

On The Topic Of Leprosy

 I saw this in health news....new outbreak in the border states of the US....Leprosy.

It is a curable disease, but it takes a bit of effort.

As for going from one person to another?  You'd have to be around the Leprosy guy/gal for weeks at a time....for you to get it. 

Freaking out folks?  Well, yeah....if you said in some community that it'd been discovered...people would have some serious level of fear.

Just A Fading Memory Now

 One of my favorite episodes from the Covid era (2020-2022) was a visit in mid-2020 to my local German car repair shop.

This was the sign outside the building....which was limiting entry to just 2 customers at a time....so I had plenty of time to analyze it.

They were offering a 49.99 Euro deal (around $58).....they would disinfect your car....killing the crappy Covid 'bugs'.

When I finally got inside....some old lady was asking about the service....she'd just dropped off a friend, and was worried that maybe the friend had Covid.

When the lady left and I came up....I asked the guy bluntly....what was the 'service'.  

Well....it was a misty solution they'd bought....I stopped and asked....so it's a commercial house-cleaner?  

Well....yeah, was his response.  With a fresh-lemon scent....he noted.

I stopped him and asked....isn't this like 2.99 Euro for a full-up bottle?  Well....yeah, he responded.  So I could do the same thing myself and not waste the 49.99 Euro?  Yeah....he grumbled.

They ran this service for several months.  I would imagine at least two or three people a day showed up and asked for the deal.  So in a month, there's probably 120 of these service deals to come up.  

Some smart 12-year old kid could have offered the same type service....for 6.99 Euro.  

Conspiracy Chatter

I spent about an hour this AM....pondering over this news item.  In summary, some scientists (you are left to wonder what their field is about)....believe that regular people doing research...are triggering themselves to format something that is a conspiracy is faked-up.

How?  Well....as you read over some story that sounds fake, the scientists say there are empty 'pits' of reality or data....to reach a conclusion.  In their mind, a conspiracy should remain a conspiracy, and never proven faked-up.

The fact that scientists and researchers readily go back and update/correct things they said were 'facts' to start withh?  Well....yeah, that's a problem by itself.

About That Balloon Business

 I pondered for the last day or two...over a national story that I read.  Apparently, when all that Chinese balloon business occurred (early on)....the White House was set to a decision....to keep the public from finding out about the balloon.  No balloon....no worry.

Why?  Well....no one can really say.  I'm sure after the holidays...one of the chief questions to be posed to the WH press-spokesperson....will be 'why'.

So I analyzed this from several prospectives.  

Their vision?  They probably thought it would be like some satellite, and just not visible to the normal eye (that was NOT the case).  But maybe in talks with Biden....he just kept you can't see balloons that high up.

Then I thought....as dementia prone as Biden is....maybe he's got people around him who think the the same way he does.

But this led me to a meeting-mentality....where you have eight folks in a room....suddenly keyed-up on a balloon threat from China, and the general discussion wasting ninety minutes of your time....with no one really wanting to engage upon the idea of shooting it down.  Chief reason?  How would you explain this on CNN?

These are simply rough times for the average White House 'expert'.  You get dragged into a meeting with the boss....knowing that he's mentally ill-prepared for the job, and crappy situations demand some kind of response.     

Hot Political Chatter

 States planning an agenda to remove Biden's name from ballots: Georgia, Penn, and Arizona.

States planning an agenda to remove Trump's name from ballots: Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina,  Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

I would imagine by mid-January....at least ten more states will go remove either Trump's name or Biden's name.

What may happen here?  It's possible that two dozen states end up in a refusal to have a Presidential ballot....meaning that the Electoral College is not capable of working....and everyone goes into mid-January to vote by state's House members.  

Odds of states rigging a new selection system (redrawing districts) to ensure maximum Democrat Party 'wins'?  Yeah, it's possible.

Just An Odd View Of Wars Ongoing And Wars About To Start

 1.  Ukraine-Russia (US has given a significant amount of assets)

2.  President Xi (China) threat to take Taiwan

3.  Israel - Hamas

4.  Yemen attacks on ships to enter the Red Seat

5.  All that equipment left in Afghanistan

6.  Venezuela - Guyana threat of war

7.  North Korea testing of rockets

8.  Lowest US Army manning in years

You would almost think that the CIA designed some massive world war situation that the Pentagon could not win.

Gut Feelings

 1.  On Jeffrey Epstein and the 'guests'.

I think Jeff started the exclusive 'club' mostly to get a limited amount of insider information...just by wining/dining folks with some 4-star hookers involved.

After six to twelve months of this....I think the Mossad (Israeli Secret Intelligence folks) came to want a piece of the pie and additional guests that went beyond the business world...to include various politicians.

After a year of that era...I think the CIA stumbled into this, and they wanted a piece of the pie.  

As for the underage business?  Maybe there is an example or two of this going on, but I suspect there's mostly women over age 21....with a handful of gays/lesbians involved.

But these guys are now sitting and wondering....did 'Angie', the gal who said she was '20'....was she actually 16 years old, and ten to fifteen years later....this bothers the guy a fair bit.

The fact that he blabbed to Jeff about such-and-such deal to take place in six ways?  That probably never comes up in his mind....it's the youthful 'Angie' and that eight hours of hot sex that is on the guy's mind.

2.  I think it's now possible that fifteen states will deny Trump's name in some fashion, and various other states react by refusing to conduct a Presidential election....they intend to force a 'no-electoral-college' situation, and go to the state-by-state voting.  

I also think the hotest topic to come by mid-summer of 2024....will be voter ID....nationwide.

3.  I was looking over Bloomberg this AM, and they say.....a quarter of America's 'normal-rich' (meaning a income of $175,000 a year or more).....will infer to people and peers...that they are 'poor' or just getting by in some fashion.

I've tried to ponder upon this topic.  To be honest, I've never known or been friends with anyone making $175k a year.  Back as an E3 in the Air Force and barely making $9,000 while living in the barracks....I didn't really infer or tell anyone that I was poor or getting by.  Today, married to a German, at least once a week...I will infer to the wife  that we lived poorly on the farm...having to eat thin strips of bacon instead of the thick stuff, and we used the cheaper-made toilet paper.  

There's some kind of five-star BS going on....if you think $175k a year makes you poor.

4.  There's apparently a new investigation going on in Congress about a second gay video tape....involving another gay employee of the House/Senate.

Just a gut feeling, but I suspect by spring of 2024....there will be at least sixty of these videos, and only two will involve lesbians.

5.  All these people talking about leaving the US,  if Trump wins....has to now be in the 500,000 range....I would imagine that more than 99-percent have never given real consideration to this.  The one and only country on their list?  Probably Canada.

Frankly, as winters go in Canada....after one season, I think the vast number of people will quietly return to the US.  

Nine Humble Thoughts

 1.  If you polled a fair segment of Americans, I suspect that 25-percent would say that a 'civil war' is currently underway in the nation.

2.  Why can't the Harvard management folks fire the University President with all the plagiarism issues?  Just me thinking over this....they've probably talked about it, and now worry that it'll be seen as a racism issue if they fire her.  

I'm also of the thought process that maybe they've agreed on firing but now realize from the twenty-odd people to replace her....a scan of their PhD thesis reveals similar issues as the current gal.

3.  Are 'migrant' and 'illegal alien' the same thing?  Yeah.

4.  Walter Lippman 1922 quote: “It is often very illuminating...to ask yourself how you got at the facts on which you base your opinion. Who actually saw, heard, felt, counted, named the thing, about which you have an opinion?”

I saw this in the past week.  Public order/respect....often pushes you in extreme ways....to the point that you need to halt the message you are receiving and just ask a few questions before getting serious or hyped-up about something.

5.  Throwing Trump off the Colorado ballot?  Well....seems like now that he is collecting a ton of public donations.  On smart political play for Colorado (my 1-to-10 index)?  I'd give them a '2' at best.  

6.  All this money coming in for the Biden campaign....which is currently marginal at best (most primaries are limiting candidates to only Biden himself).  I suspect if you line up a hundred typical Democrat voters....more than sixty-percent will say they are not participating in the upcoming primary season.  

7.  DeSantis is finished when the Iowa caucus is wrapped up.  I don't think he'll have funding to continue on.  From  that point, it's just Haley, Trump and Vivek.  Oddly enough, for CNN to have some 'fresh' news....they are giving a ton of extra coverage over to Vivek and Haley at present.

8.  From the 8-million-odd 'guests' in the US....'illegals'....if we enter a year long real recession with no real money being spent....what work will they be doing?

9.  How to read this entire Jack Smith special prosecutor 'status'?  Well....normally,  under the law, to be a special prosecutor, you are already hired and employed by the US gov't (meaning?  you took the oath and are a fed employee).

Jack Smith was not a fed employee, and has not taken any oath.  In the true sense of the word....he was contracted out for the special prosecutor role.  

A problem?  Well...if the Supreme Court comes back and tosses the case...it will look rather amusing for the Attorney General to explain this in some public setting.  I doubt that he was the person creating the entry for Smith in this role.

Military Story

 I noticed this in Air Force news today....they were extending max years for enlisted, because of the manpower shortage.

What this this means?  If you were a E-4/Senior Airman, you were now allowed to stay (without promotion) to 12 years.  

E-5/Staff Sergeant?  22 years.

E-6/Tech Sergeant?  24 years.

E-7/Master Sergeant? 26 years.

E-8/Senior Master Sergeant?  28 years.

An awful long time to be just a SSgt?  Yeah.  In the early 1980s, I worked in a civil engineering squadron with a air conditioning SSgt who was up to 18 years.  His IQ a problem?  Yeah....he knew just enough about AC systems to get by.  

The AF thinking this will help?  They claim....2,000 folks are affected by the rule, with no idea if the folks will stay anyway.  

Based on a few chats I've had in the past three years with enlisted guys....most had now a plan to exit the military upon 20 years.  The woke-stuff, deployments, and amusing pronoun players....were enough to convince them to exit.  

Gut Feeling Of Colorado Removing Trump From The Ballot?

 1860, Lincoln was removed from 10 state ballots, yet still won the election in the end.  

If you brought up this fact....99-percent of people are unaware of this fact.

The Supreme  Court?  They will issue a 'pause'.....telling Colorado that it can't progress until a review occurs....meaning that the primary to be held on 5 March 2024...likely will occur, with Trump's name on the primary ballot.

I have two observations over this.

First, if you use the 14th Amendment for this action....logic would follow that the Republican Party itself is a problem in the insurrection business, and you'd have to remove all candidates in the state of Colorado who identity as Republicans. 

Second, if Trump's name is tossed back at them and forces them into a corner, will the state of Colorado do the right thing and exit the union?

Yeah....it would sound like a Civil War strategy.  Just the odd factor....the Democrats of the south in 1860....went this way and badly lost.  

Quote Story

 I looked over this news story: "Trump says he never read ‘Mein Kampf’ after ‘poisoning the blood’ comment linked to Hitler."

The quote?  Hitler did make a 'poisoned blood'  speech, and to be honest from 1920s Nazi Party and into the 1930s....a fair number of Germans were angry that the coalition government was not doing enough to prevent migration.  That big of a deal?  Well....a lot of German men went off to the war and didn't return....so industry (trying to recover in the 1925 to 1930 era) were accepting non-Germans for employment.

But as for the use of Mein Kampf?  I've attempted to read it (once in 1978) and found it crappy enough to drop after an hour.  About a decade later, I'd make a second attempt and marginally got through  it.  

Anyone who says they've read it....probably read through the first ten pages, and then dropped the book.  The emphasis of the book is to sell you on a nationalistic political focus....involving socialism as the landscape.  

As for anyone believing that migration in the US presently can be resolved by Trump or anyone (including Newsom or Biden)?  I think if you asked the blunt question...the majority of Americans would say it's permanently screwed-up.  

Women Happier?

 

I sat and read through a piece off Twitter today and the emphasis is that a report was concluded after asking women some questions, and the outcome of the study is that women seem to be happier without a permanent guy/husband and kids.  

No one asked guys much over this but I would imagine that guys would mostly respond that 50-percent of women probably should be 'black-listed' in some way....because of emotional issues, high expectations on finances and home sanitation practices.  

The real issue?  About every six seconds in America....some PhD guy/gal  is wrapping up another study, and publishing a 50-50 report....either lacking in facts, or full of BS.  

So you, as the reader....go and read through five to twenty pages, and eventually (with 15 to 30 minutes wasted)....you stop yourself and admit that half of what they wrote is pure BS.  You don't even need a PhD to write this sort of garbage.  

As for the real question here....are women happier?  To be honest, if most women just had a dog or cat, and 'Friends' were still being produced....life would be simpler in nature.  

Name Grifting?

 It's a curious Biden-story.

So this trustee is in charge of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy company (health-related).  At some point several years ago....they sought out new business, and this 'deal' came up.  For a sum of $600,000....arranged as sort of a loan deal....James Biden (the brother of Joe Biden) said the family name was worth X, and that he could arrange more business from the Middle East.  So the health company loaned out money to James....but no business ever came.

Somewhere in this business....where the money 'moved'....James Biden wrote out a check for $200,000 to Joe Biden.  No one says much except it would appear that the $200k was a cut of something.

So this brings to the oddball situation of James, Hunter and Joe....that they've all sold something, but you really can't find where the government did some service in return for the three getting cash.  

Just selling a name, but no return on it?  Well....yeah.  A crime?  No.

Looking at all the Chinese connections and Ukraine business....it brings me to the old subject on Hunter Biden....that people seemed to think they were getting something but the reality (the non-illegal part of this)....is a name had value. 

It's like saying the name 'Pinkerton' (detective agency), or 'Brando' (acting), or Aaron (baseball).  

Can you impeach on selling a name?  Not really....unless you skipped on taxes.  

It is sorta comical to say this...but all this wasted chatter really revolves around the name 'Biden'.  Seems like the answer in life for people in poverty....just mount a name change....saying you are a 'Biden' and some money will fall out of the sky.  

Five Humble Thoughts

 1.  After reviewing this Congressional staff guy who got wild and crazy in some sexual act (with another guy)....I came to ask the critical question.  Was this his first time use of the Congressional hearing room?  I sorta doubt it.  It would not shock me if he'd been there a dozen times.  

A big deal?  No...there's probably four-hundred folks who can claim some sort of sexual status in the room (like the mile-high club).

2.  If someone has done something to convince you of their 'woke' status.....are you likely to turn around and leave?  Like in a church, a bar, a baseball game?  

3.   To be honest, if I was a Fortune-500 company 'boss' (CEO).....I probably would have a hard rule on not hiring Harvard graduates....knowing I'm overpaying a salary for a guy who probably got mostly inflated grades and isn't capable of doing 'honest' work.

4.  Someone made a comment that they were self-partnered.....so I had to look it up.  Basically, they were in single-status, and considered their partner to be themselves.  Permanently single?  Yeah.  Conflicting signals?  Well....you could skip over dating them....as far as I can see.

5.  Just noted....this court business for Hunter Biden....it's in California.  To start on 11 January 2024.  Odds of a deal before then?  I'd give it a 90-percent chance.  

Cost Story

 Just something to ponder. 

I noticed this guy's story on Twitter....he'd gone to a place in Manhattan.....sharing a cocktail situation with someone and having small platter of cheese sticks.  Pricey?  With tax....just over $50.

The wife and I had a scene like this back in the summer....just two drinks and no snacks....totaling out near $30.  Course, it wasn't Manhattan.  

By the time you figure inflation, the cost of employees, heating or cooling these establishments....things have escalated over the past five years.

The big deal is that city/state sales tax....escalated with this.  So you wake up and think over this past habit....then reach a point where you avoid moments like this.  Yes, it slows down the commerce path, and establishes a new problem for city/state tax revenue folks.  

I should note....all of this talk takes place before you get to the 'tip'.  And what would you tip for two drinks and a cheese plate at $50?  Old guys like me won't go past $5.  My wife, the German?  She might not go past $3 if she's controlling the situation.  

What If We Were Left To Our Own 'Devices' To Identify Ourselves?

 At least forty times a week, I'll be watching some YouTube or Twitter video....where some gal or guy wants to let you know how to 'identify' themselves.  They assume you want to know them, their problems or woes, and you wouldn't mind conducting this experience with a special title or ID.  

In my military years, you wore a rank identifier on your sleeve/collar, and a name ID on your chest....with 'Air Force' on the opposite side.  That was all the ID that you really needed (at least at that point in time).  So it's hard for me to see this new trend as being legit.

The chief problem I see with the identify-people....if they were to meet forty new people a day....they are wasting at least two hours of time in getting the ID across and fully understood.  The minute you say binary or non-binary....that usually opens another hour (for the 40 people) where you need to explain your sex route and how things seem fluid or non-fluid.  

Me?  The minute you start on this chat....I'd probably stop you and ask about your car....mostly wanting to know if it's a Buick, Honda, or if you are carless.  Then right before you restart your identity chat....I'll ask about your dog or cat.  After that minute long response....I'd probably go on and ask about favorite episodes of 'Friends', and who you felt was the better character on 'Lost'.  I might ask about your health, particularly your mental health.  I might dwell five minutes on the crappy state of baseball, or this idiot DeSantis, or if you had any favorites passages from the Old Testament.

I know that you'd like to just control the conversation and make it a pronoun thing or sexual thing....but there ten-thousand other potential chat topics and you might spill your guts over any number of things unrelated to sex or pronouns. 

Yeah, in a way, you are living a fairly miserable life if the conversation can only touch on pronouns and sex (unless these were juicy stories over the librarian lady who wears naughty see-through blouses, or the Piggly Wiggly clerk who has a dozen lip-piercings).   

Gen Z Story

 The NY Post published a news item entitled: "Gen Z young people suffer from ‘menu anxiety’ when dining out — with many too scared to order their own meals."

I sat and read over the story.

It would appear that they sit down....gaze over a four-page menu, then get all hyped-up and unable to really select anything.  So they end up asking others at the table to order for them, or getting some advice from the waitress.

I pondered over this.

I grew up in rural Alabama in the 1970s.  When you did get a eating-out opportunity....you typically had a one-page menu, which prominently featured catfish, chicken and some lunchtime roast-beef special.  Three-quarters of the time, you went to the bottom where a hamburger plate was offered up for $2.99 (ice tea was unlimited in those days).

The amount of time you spent gazing at the menu?  Less than 20 seconds.

After that, I went off to the Air Force....where the chow hall typically had four offerings....the grilled ham and cheese sandwich, hamburgers, cheap fish-sticks, or crappy tasting spaghetti and meatballs. You spent less than 3 seconds on menu-gazing.

To some degree, I'm puzzled over this Gen Z crowd. I admit...maybe a four-page menu is a bit difficult to analyze.  Maybe the pricing scheme is such....that you really don't want to spend $26 for a marginalized plate of Lamb (with gravy out of a can). 

But if you have such a problem over lunch or dinner....how does dating go?  Do you gaze over a 8-page list of things NOT to mention prior to the date?  Do you carry a 3 x 5 inch card around to remind you of polite things to say to the gal or guy?  

Life was confusing...even before Gen Z folks came along, but it seems like they've made things twice as confusing with their antics.

Breathing Story

 I sat looking this week over a Daily Mail UK newspiece: "Now scientists say BREATHING is bad for the environment: Gases we exhale contribute to 0.1% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.|"

You can read the whole  piece here.

By the end, you are left with two observations.  First, we could be doomed no matter what we do.  Or, we could adapt here and learn to breath less.  

I pondered over the breathing less.  At the Alabama pool where I failed to learn how to swim.....you had training to hold your breath thirty seconds.  This practice might work, and if so....we could lessen the destruction of the planet, by holding our breath on a regular basis. 

If none of this matters, and we are fairly doomed?  Well....then breath on....like you would normally breath.  

Next week?  I expect the next science worry to be excessive farting...causing climate change, and getting people to lessen their farting. 

"What Kind Of American Are You?"

 "What kind of Americans are you?"

-- Jessie Plemons character in spring 2024 'Civil War' talking to some journalists that he's encountered.

The scene is fixed.....a civil war in America has broken out, and there's the US gov't, the 'western alliance' (whatever that means) and the Texas 'guard'.  The journalists are portrayed in the movie as being good guys.  Jessies's character has encountered them and wants to identify them as 'good-guys' or enemies. 

I pondered over the question, and how one should respond.

The attempt by the production team is to portray various people as enemies of the Republic, or nutcase militia types.

The fact that the movie has not be released or seen beyond the 3-minute preview....leaves a lot to your imagination.

My response to the Jessie-character.....I'm American-American.  

Releasing some piece like this in an election year?  It's an attempt to stir up public anger....making them perceive civil conflict being just months away.  It won't go well.

Booze-Discussion

 In the old days of the Air Force (prior to the 1990s)....booze on a base was sold at two locations (your local 'club' or the Class-6 store).  The club sold drinks....the Class-6 store was the place to buy it in bottle form.

To describe a Class-6 shop?  It would be typically like any beverage shop that you'd walk into today, with ultra-cheap prices.  If you were off-base and found a bottle of 'X' for $6....Class-6 would probably sell it for $5.

From the 1950s to the 1990s....Class-6 survived (actually thrived). 

In the 1990s...the BX-folks came along and said they could do a better job, and the Class-6 empire was dissolved.

What you figured out five years later...was that the $6 a bottle of 'X' off-base.....via the new BX shop....was now about $5.90 for the same bottle.  Yeah, this became a much discussed topic.

Occasionally, you'd walk in and find some case of beer on sale, and the discount made sense.  But you had to view each week of what was coming up on sale, and only buy when discounted prices were in effect.  

But the BX went and changed things in an odd way as 2000 came around.  The shopette gimmick was invented, a 24-hour shop came up out of thin air.  I was retired at this point, but young enlisted guys would talk about going over at midnight....to buy X and Y.  This was something that 1970s/1980s enlisted guys weren't into.

This week, I noticed that the BX-management had gone to another modification....saying there were too many suicides on bases....with people buying booze after 10 PM.  So there is a new being established....the 24-hour operation will still continue, but you can't buy any beer, wine, or booze....from 10 PM to 6 AM.  No one really caring?  Well....they had to admit that in normal operations....booze sales from 10 PM to 6 AM....only amounted to 1-percent of the booze sales.  Yeah.....99-percent of booze/beer sales occurs from 6 AM to 9:59 PM

This brings me back to the odd factor....guys committing suicide after dark (mostly from midnight to 4 AM).  No one says booze or drugs are involved, but this BX decision makes you wonder about this.  

Folks just readjusting to the time change, and rush over between 9 and 10 PM....to buy beer or booze?  Well....yeah, people tend to adjust.  The other factor?  If you needed booze or beer....why limit yourself to the BX-management situation?  

New Scenario: Haley-Newsom-Trump-RFK Jr?

 It came up yesterday....Haley suggesting to Democrats (since there is no D-primary stuff going on) to cross the line and vote for her.  So it's the next likely gimmick to have Haley as the Republican convention winner....leaving Trump to be a Independent.

In a race where it's Trump-RFK Jr-Haley-Newsom?

I'd say Haley wins zero states.

RFK and Trump will split 45 states, and Newsom will mostly win west coast states, and NY. 

Crazy year for an election.

Four Observations

 1.  Yesterday, I viewed a 2024 movie review....entitled: 'Civil War'.  Basically, the Ron Swanson actor (Nick Offerman) is President of the United States, and because of a irrational public....war has started up.  

It appears to be the US versus the southern alliance folks (whatever they are) and the west coast crowd.

This went on for about three minutes and I was mostly laughing....it was all dead-serious in the attempt to convey 'WAR'.  I was hoping some LGTBQ-land would come about....probably SF Bay area.

You can find it over at YouTube, and spend some time watching it.

2.  All this impeachment crap on Biden?  Going forward?  Yeah.

I would imagine that VP Harris is sipping Champaign and getting pretty loose/ready....for the new job.  My question?  Who would Harris select as VP?  I would imagine it won't be Newsom.  

Finding someone is even less clever as Harris?  Very likely.  

3.  What all this Harvard plagiarism crap is about?  " " ".

Yeah, quotation marks. 

 It was somewhere around the 8th grade where my English teacher finally conveyed the necessity of " marks.  I questioned the logic of this....was it really necessary, but it was drilled into me.

As for this PhD gal who runs Harvard having a problem?  I think she may merely have a crappy keyboard and the "-key doesn't work half the time (mine does that occasionally).

4.  If you ask me on anxiety levels for Hunter Biden?  I suspect he's maxed-out and likely doing two or three lines of cocaine daily to relieve the pressure.  

The Penis-Lady Question

 I spent most of the day pondering over this story.  Comes out a Seattle high school....history test of some type (I can't figure  out how history relates though).  

Question came up on the quiz....kid was given a statement and was told it was a true/false situation.  This seems be a dumbass test where you ought to get 100-percent on the test.  

1st question:  Only women can get pregnant. True or false.

2nd question: Only men can have penises. True or false.  

Kid responds 'true' on both....marked wrong by the teacher.

Test is not the type that you can remove from the room (collected, from what the journalists say).  Kid took a screen shot....parents reviewed later, and all 'hell' broke loose.

Teacher male or female?  Left for you to wonder.

Mostly an indoctrination episode?  What's it have to do with history or civics?

You are left to wonder....out of the 25-odd kids in the class....how many answered 'true'.

You have a case where some dimwit (male or female) has wrapped up high school, and then wrapped up four years of college....prepared to hand-out BS like this.  Normal kid would view the classroom lesson and indoctrination....reaching a point by age 14....that he's smarter than the teacher (he even knows this).

School left to clean the mess up?  Yeah.   I would assume there's some meeting with the principal, a district lawyer for the school board, and the teacher.  Beyond that....you will not hear anything else for a while.

My view?  I would say it's a safe bet that by the ninth grade.....you should graduate kids out of school, and try to get 75-percent of them into some apprentice-or-trade school.  The kids remaining for this type of education involving penis-ladies or vagina-men....you need a dumbass profession.....apple-picker, trucker, or Piggly Wiggly clerk for them.  

Three Humble Thoughts

 1.  On this return of Alex Jones to Twitter?

I'll say this about Jones....if he rants for ten minutes....there's garbage BS and worthless chatter in about half of the talk...making it a pain-in-the-ass to listen to his rant.  The problem is....in 60 seconds of his ten-minute talk....there's five-star material/facts.

The one true value of Twitter/X...is that you can mute or block people that you don't want to hear.  

2.  I sat in amazement....TSA has rigged up some kind of fake-line business where if you are a refugee with NO ID....you somehow get through security at airports to fly.  It makes no sense.

3.  All this Harvard chatter from past day or two?  I don't really care. 

If you were stupid enough to pay $55,000 a year for tuition and $22,000 for room/board....you probably deserve the right to cut-and-paste for your home-work.  

College Story

 I worked with an Air Force officer once who got into a discussion once about a 'buddy' in college who'd gone and done four stupid acts, while drunk.  Each one ending up with either the college 'police' or the local town police getting involved....then having some meeting with the college's management. 

On the third episode...they called up his dad and gave him the lecture that patience was running out.  

On the fourth episode, they just brought the guy in...gave him a short summary slip of 'you-are-expelled'....then had the campus cops escort him to the dorm to pick up the belongings to leave.  

The problem that developed after this?  Well....he went to another public institution and figured that they'd readily accept him.  Once he delivered the summary of classes/credit already taken, and there's some comment about being forced to leave....the new college discussed things for a day or two....then said 'no-acceptance'.  

It took a month of looking around to find a college that accepted the circumstances.

The odds of someone getting expelled today out of some public or private college?  I'd have my doubts that the management folks have the 'guts' today to throw folks out.  It's an odd evolution over the past two or three decades that has developed. All of the 'big' colleges have their own police staff these days.....added security because of various bad-boy behavior being accepted.  

Why High-Speed Rail Is A Tough Sell?

 Well....you start with  the safety issue and convey that the train will be moving along at 200 mph.  You go and spend $3-billion to build some network from LA (central) to Vegas.  In the end, with safety problem values....the $3-billion will stretch into $6-billion.

Then one day....you have one single derailment, with forty dead folks and three-hundred seriously wounded folks.  By the time you reach a 'cause'.....the legal challenges come up, and the rail folks need to cough up half-a-billion to make everyone go away 'happy'.  

So then the problem is....what if there is a second derailment?

At this point, riders will drop drastically (like the use of the Hindenburg), and the potential of profits fall like a rock.

A year or two with only 20-percent of the seats filled for each trip....the states are now offering massive discounts to get people back, and the safety factor continues to be the problem.

Five Humble Thoughts

 1.  Life is not a Rubik's Cube....but sometimes you just can't get all the same colors on the same side.  Live with it.

2.  Conspiracy theories on occasion, will transit to being factual.  Sometimes, facts will even transit to being conspiracy theories.  I read this week that one out of five college students believe the German holocaust against Jews....consider the stories now to be conspiracy theories....rather than fact.

3.  The term 'ban' used to mean something.  I'm not sure a meaning exists anymore.

4.  Freedom of speech appears to have 1,000 different versions and meanings.  I guess if there were a freedom of silence appearance in the Constitution....it'd also have a thousand meanings.

5.  It just seems like a quarter of people that you might bump into daily...are hyper-critical about various topics (from politics and sports, to news and religion).

Movie Review: Leave The World Behind

 This AM, I wrapped up a new Netflix movie....Leave The World Behind.

First, I'll say for 80-percent of the movie....it was among the 20 best written scripts I've ever seen. Then came the final twenty minutes, and it turned into a piece of crap. Whatever story they'd been leading you upon....was gone.

Second, just surprising...great cast (Julie Roberts included).

Third, if you wanted some 5-star suspense...it does the job, but in that final twenty, you probably need five shots of some booze to soften the frustration.

Hookers Story

 Some money-experts sat down and added up what Hunter Biden spent on hookers, p0rn, and sex-clubs...over four years.

Comes to $872,000.

I sat and pondered over this.

A minimum of $200,000 a year.....on hired ladies.

Generally, guys that get into this type of addiction/habit....end up in dire straits or bankrupted.

Rehab?  There are probably places for an addiction like this.

Homes Chatter

 I pondered over this story from Newsweak....."Biden Wants to Give 500,000 Americans Money to Buy Homes."

No one says the amount of this deal....I can only assume that it'd be rigged to give you some down payment option....maybe $10,000.

Where would the funds come from?  Well....new taxes.

What people would get the funds?  Unknown.

Inventing money out of thin air?  Yeah.

But here's the issue I see.....you go into California or Florida and discuss a purchase (not a rental) and you need a house deal in the $400,000 range, and that's not really a house that most would desire.

In Detroit?  Well....you can view houses in the $50,000 range.

Trying to sell this in an election year?  In the old days....it'd been great stuff.  Today?  No one believes the BS.  

Cannon Chatter

 President Biden quote from yesterday:

"The Second Amendment didn't say you can own any gun, you can own any weapon. You couldn't own a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed."

I pondered over it, and then looked around. 

Yeah, you can buy a cannon.  I won't suggest that it's in 4-star shape or capable of being dragged off to some conflict in Central America. 

Would a regular guy go and buy one?  No.  I'm pretty sure that most wives would put their foot down and say it's just a dust collector.

Fake cannons around?  I would imagine that throughout the US....there's probably a thousand crappy cannons in existence....made by 'Marty' in some garage operation....manufacturing ten to twenty of these with some Hispanic labor help.

Train BS Chatter

 "All the studies show, by the way — people get from point A to point B faster on a train than their car they take the train! They take the train."

-- President Biden (yesterday)

I paused over this.  In about 99-percent of the US....there's no real train network.  If you did live in NY City and wanted to venture to Chicago....it takes about 23 hours to make the journey on AMTRAK.  If you drove? It's just over 12 hours (assuming you drive a 'safe' speed.   If you flew?  It's a 2.5 hour flight.

A bad example?  Well, here's the thing (note, I've ridden on AMTRAK)....the vast majority of the network moves along at 30 to 40 mph. The tracks are 'crap' on the majority of routes and it's physically impossible to stand...if the train was moving at 70 mph (like you'd experience in France or Germany).

I'm not anti-train, but the days that existed in the 1920s when most Americans got around the nation, from one major city/town to another....on a train...have passed.

The only way that rail continues on?  If you rig up a ban on flights, or make travel by car nearly impossible. 

What studies does he talk about?  I think it's about a 99-percent bogus statement and just some handlers who briefed him to say this, and the public would believe it without any question. 

Ten Things You Can Do With Mentally Unwell People

 First, try to avoid them in general (shun is a good phrase to use).

Second, if forced into engaging...try to be humble, kind and limited on response (just nodding your head...like you hear what they are saying).  Don't be agreeable or say 'that makes sense'.

Third, ask where they got such-and-such idea.  

Fourth, suggest some other person as better at dealing with these comments/ideas. Avoid dumping them on some 70-year-old or older guy....they will have the least amount of patience.  

Fifth, get them in a low stress environment (like a smoking 'pit', or picnic table setting, or a parking lot).  Bars....are not a good idea.

Sixth, people want to share their woes/sufferings, and just want 30 minutes of your silence to hear their problem.  Maybe your silence is enough to reset their pattern.

Seventh, fear or guilt usually fit into most mentally unwell 'consumers'.  'Bless' them in some way...at the conclusion....to relieve the fear or guilt.  (Yeah, it's basically what some Catholic priest would do).

Eighth, most mentally unwell folks fear being 'alone'.  So convey that they are in good company....saying it multiple times....in different ways.

Ninth, some mentally unwell people have a 30-minute story to tell...you might want to convey in the first 60 seconds....you got eight minutes to tell the 30-minute story.....get to the finer points...real quick. 

Tenth, the schizophrenia folks need real doctors....real medication.  Once you size up that they fall into this category....don't BS around and act as some authority.  If the gal sees 6 ft tall demons or werewolves.....it's best to disengage and avoid any conversation.  

Red Flag Discussion

 I watched a podcast today, which got into the 'red-flag' business of relationships, and noted that a fair amount of women who said that guys who listened to Joe Rogan....were in a red-flag situation.

I sat and pondered upon it.

In 1978 (1st year of the Air Force).....I probably had no more than three red-flags (pack-a-day-smoker, serious whiskey drinker, or some gal with obvious mental health problems...were all red-flags).

Today?  If I had to go out on some date....there would be some list sixty-odd red-flags.  Just getting into serious NCAA football chatter would be a red-flag.  Some 4-time divorcee with history....would be a red-flag. Just having 10 minutes a day of religious chatter...would probably be a red-flag.

Women who have a show-room for their living room (white carpets, dust collector trophies)?  Red-flag.

Women who want to know your credit history or voting habits?  Red-flag.

Women who want to be assured of your ballroom dancing skills?  Red-flag.

Women who talk about ex-husband #1, #2 and #3....at least an hour out of the day?  Red-flag.

Women who want to know right off the bat your physical fitness club membership and the amount of work-out?  Red-flag.

Women who have the top three buttons on their blouse undone on date number one?  Red-flag.

Women who talk continually of their wine consumption but can't define sweetness, body, acidity or aroma? Red-flag.

The problem is once you get over sixty....you filter out things to a maximum level. 

Eight Humble Thoughts

 1.  This 'dragging' of Hunter Biden into a House 'interrogation' episode?  

Even if you got the police involved in 'dragging' the guy in....I would assume he'd be so stressed out...that he'd have to do a line or two of cocaine....to get fixed-up enough for first hour, and ask for a 3-minute pause in the second hour, for another line of cocaine.

In summary, nothing that he'd say....would make sense...because of the cocaine.

2.  If you lined-up 100 American adults (with a college education).....asking them to name any city in the Ukraine....I believe fewer than five would name one single city.

If you had a world map....I suspect fewer than fewer than ten could find the Ukraine with 'ease'.

3.   I came to realize this week that the last Republican mayor of Chicago....was over 90 years ago.  Pretty much all the damage that was done by that guy and the 1920s....is over.  What you have now.....is fresh new damage.

4.  I strongly suspect that no one spends an hour a day talking to President Biden over his poll numbers or the Hunter mess.  As long as he reads the WaPo and NY Times......he is under some form of control.  

5.  As much as Biden is standing there and forgiving college debt....don't worry.  There's fresh new college debt being made every month....to replace this crowd.

6.  In general, to build a E-car charging station in Germany (does not include the concrete, pavement, etc....it's 7,500 Euro ($8,079) per charger and electrical hook-up.

7.  I think some folks around DC are contemplating a scenario now where President Harris would appear after a impeachment situation.  Whether it bothers them or not....one could only speculate.

8.  At some point (shortly), all this trans-business will come to a halt, as lawsuits start up, and HR folks for clinics and hospitals start to freak out.  Overnight....you won't be able to get a trans situation brewing, and only by going to some third-world clinic.....will the practice continue.  

Reality of Sports

 “I wanted to play lacrosse, but you had to choose between lacrosse and football. You couldn’t play both in the same season.”

-- President Biden (yesterday)

Normally, I don't follow that many comments of what he says.  But I paused over this.

Traditionally in college football....it's strictly a fall sport.  You might have some training camp episodes in July, but it's mostly over by December, unless your team gets into NCAA bowl games.

For lacrosse?  Well....it's an odd sport.  Training might start in January, and actual games (at least in NCAA action) start in February, with the season over by Memorial Day weekend.

The League business?  It's different from NCAA lacrosse.....their season would start end of May (with training camp for most of May), and the season would end around the last week of August.  Playoffs?  Well....it's the whole month of September.  

Joe being confused?  If you were in college-level play....he's BSing you.  You could play both sports although it makes little sense if you were better at baseball than lacrosse.  If you were in amateur non-college lacrosse....Joe is telling you the complete truth, and you can't mix/match the two sports.

Do I know that much about lacrosse?  No.  In my Air Force years, I had a roommate who got into it.  At one point, he got himself convinced for about a year to participate in seven different sports.  

Is The GOP Impeachment Schedule Likely To Ruin Joe's Fake Campaign?

 Well....here's the thing....the Democratic strategy is for a zero primary period, and have some curtain-call for Joe either at the convention or shortly after the convention....where Newsom or Michelle Obama would step in.

If the House ran up a 3-week quickie impeachment deal, and handed this to the Senate in mid-Feb?  It'd create a problem because VP Harris would then step in and run her own campaign....which I'm pretty sure....she has a couple of people talking about how it'd work.

Putting Newsom or Obama in a tough situation?  Yeah.

If you thought things couldn't get much crazier.....no, you'd be incorrect.  

A Long Story

 Back in the summer of 2020...I decided to sign up for Social Security.  I figured it' be simple.

I live in Germany, and the US Consulate in Frankfurt has a Social Security office.  So the first thing I learned....via a phone, you CANNOT reach this office.  You can only arrange an appointment.  Because of Covid, the office was in some fashion....'shut-down'.  They couldn't really explain anything....other than closed.

About six weeks pass, and they update the page....saying you can have an appointment.  Nothing is open for approximately 8 weeks....getting me to the first week of October.  Ok, not a big deal.

I show up early that AM....around 8 AM....to find about 300 people in line.  Luckily, it was not that cold or rainy.  I stood in line to reach the security point....taking roughly 2 hours.  I get inside.....ten minutes prior to my appointment.

I hustle up to the room....second in line, and out comes 'Herman' (a German Social Security  employee).  

I have all the right papers, and Herman fills out the application....then he says....you will be notified in three weeks about the next 'talk'.  What 'talk' I asked?  Well....there's some lady who will call me at home and discuss the application.  I asked Herman why he can't 'talk'....rules, he says.

So about 3 weeks go by and I get an email....yes, some lady will call me.....2nd week in January (2021).  That's approximately six weeks from the day of the email.

The day arrives in January, and she calls.  American gal....briefly asking me three questions and then she notices that I tried to get registered back in June (7 moths prior).  She says we can backdate this....fine.  

Then she brings up Medicare, and plan-B.  She interprets what I said.....that I'd sign up later (at age 65...20 months into the future).   But what she writes down....is 'declined'. 

Well...two months go by and the first check occurs.....like she said....backdated to June of 2020.

So we go forward to April 2023.  I get this Medicare plan-A card in the mail.  There's an application for plan-B (you have to pay in the range of $169 a month for it).  It says....sign and mail.  Ok.

Two months pass....I call Social Security in the states (because the Frankfurt folks are useless).  They have no record or entry.

Yeah, it's messed up.  I send a form to the Frankfurt Social Security guys the next day.  

I wait 2 months and try to call them....nothing.  I call the US office.....no record.

So I fax the sheet direct to the US fax number.  Next day, I call.  Yeah, it's entered and being processed.  This is the 29th of August.

Mid-September, I call each week....trying to get a status.  My Tricare (military care) runs out in mid-November, unless this plan-B occurs.  Nothing.

Finally, around the 5th of November.....Social Security says plan-B  is approved but for 1 December.  Ok, I can live with that.

This week, I printed off the card and went to visit the kind Army folks who'd update the Tricare database for me.  I waited for about 90 minutes. To be honest, at least they provided a chair, a heated hallway, and I had a BX-cup-of-coffee to energize.  

At this point....between the Consulate, the calls to Social Security and Army....I've put in about 30 man-hours of time.  All of this to ensure Tricare works after age 65?  Yeah.  

The system is screwed-up.....the Consulate Social Security office is a waste, and you'd be better off to just hand the Air Force for some extended package $175 a month to just avoid the rest of these idiots.  

Toy Story

 I pondered over this story.

California passed a bill (10584) that says if you are a retail department store in California, and offer toys....you must offer a gender-neutral toy option.  If you fail....a fine of $250 to $500 (per store) would fall into play.  Size of the store mattering?  Yeah.  The mom-and-pop shops wouldn't fall into this situation, or the Amazon folks.  

What do they mean by gender-neutral status?  That's not very clear.  

Water-pistols affected?  I doubt it.  

Barbie?  Well....maybe.  But I'm not how you'd make Barbie gender-neutral.

Confusing?  I could see some state audit coming walking into some toy shop and eyeballing things....to assess a fine, and you end as the manager hiring some lawyer (figure $3,000 minimum) to defend your shop.  

State government not having anything better to do....like fixing potholes, decreasing crime, or lessening drug abuse?  

It would seem the right thing to do....just stop selling toys in general.  Get the kids lawn-darts and tell them to have at it.  

Migrants Recruitment?

 Senator Dick Durban made a Senate 'talk' yesterday, and stated that the time had come to recruit 'new' residents of the US....meaning illegal migrants who'd crossed the border.  

I pondered over this.  The Pentagon is desperate enough...that if the House/Senate gave them funding for this idea....they'd accept it.

My issues?

At the last fifty-odd years of the Roman Empire.....this was precisely what the leadership of Rome was into....foreign soldiers.  When you analyze the downfall of Rome, this is one of the ten key reasons for dissolving.  We'd just repeat their failure.

Language issues for boot-camp?  The massive bulk of migrants....speak a non-English language, so I don't see this as practical.  Added to it....even if you brought them into a quick-to-learn situation....just to get to some level of communication, you'd need six months.  

Then you come to the ID issue, and if the migrant was 'honest' or was some undercover-spy.

On the index of smart ideas....one to ten....I give this a '3'.  

Job Question and Answer

 I saw this today off Twitter/X, and it relates to a job interview application question....you are given an Elephant, which you can't give away or sell it.  What do you do with the Elephant?

I sat for a while and pondered upon. 

I had two answers in mind.  

The non-Alabama-farm answer is to LOSE the Elephant as quickly as possible.  Leave the gate open....lead the Elephant over to some flea market and just let him wander off.

The Alabama-farm answer is to put up in the front-yard, and charge people $10 to pet 'Marvin' or $20 to ride 'Marvin'.  Put some 12-year old kid in charge, and split the 'loot' with the kid.  

But the thing is...from a Alabama prospective....there just ain't anyone who'd haul off and give you an Elephant.  It's like free cookies or free ice cream, or a free tattoo.  Things like this never occur freely.  

So my true answer is....this is a bogus question, and remark to the HR lady....what kind of dumbass are you....ain't no free Elephant-giving.  

The Thing About Papers

 This past weekend, I was reading over a analytical piece....covering monthly 'guests' of the top fifty newspapers in America.  

So from 2020 to now....the guest level (readership per month) has dropped around 40-percent (14 million to 8 million).

In simple terms?  The dinosaur-media of news....newspapers....are heading toward extinction. 

Reasons?  You can probably lay out dozens of reasons.

Personally, I think three of the big reasons are:

1.  People have been trained to limit themselves to hyped-up priorities by the bigger-media (social media) and the TV news media.  Local news is less important to a majority of people.

2.  People don't have time to gaze over a local paper.  You can figure most papers require 20 minutes to gaze over the front page, the local news section, and sports. 

3.  People tend not to believe what they read or hear....so you make decisions to either mute-hear or mute-read.  

What'll happen in a decade?  I suspect that about half of the newspapers that exist today....will drift down to six pages max, and half of that will be national news 'crap'.  

Three Things

 1.  I sat and was reading a news piece by KOMO (TV station out of Seattle).  There was a parking argument in town....where things got out of control, and one guy pulls a pistol to shoot a second guy.  So in describing this....KOMO notes that a "juvenile man" was the guy shot.

Normally, the minute you say juvenile....it's a kid or teenager.   So the term man going with juvenile?  Well...it doesn't make sense unless he was in Seattle.  

2.  People who have had Covid....say that even three years later....they still have some symptoms and have never gotten 100-percent well.  The number?  Well....it's close to 50-percent.  

A big deal?  If you were a roofer or construction worker?  Yeah.  But the story begs questions and why aren't the PhD doctors not really curious about why?

Just mentally thinking this?  Well.....you just don't know.

3.  I'm getting to a point where I think if you utter the word 'decade' and ask some gal/guy to define it....more than half would probably say it means a thousand years. I'm not saying people are stupid....it's just that they have lost a sense of reality. 

Three Things

 1.  About every week now, I read off five or six new VIP-folks who say if Trump wins in 2024....they will leave the US.

My question (figuring at least 100,000 Americans have made the 'threat')....where exactly are you moving to?

Canada?  After one single harsh winter....the majority would be all freaked out.

Some Caribbean isle?  After one hurricane....the majority would be all freaked out.

Columbia?  Between crime and infrastructure limits....the majority probably would leave after a year.

Australia?  They have that serious snake issue.

Japan?  They have serious rules about entry, and don't allow drug use.

UK?  Maybe.

This discussion is a bit silly because they depend on Trump winning, and some easy entry access....which in most cases....doesn't exist. 

2.  Watching a CNBC business piece.....one out of three American millionaires now consider themselves middle-class. 

Yeah.....two guys sitting at a bar.....one making $35,000 a year selling tires, and the other making $1.5-million a year running a sports bar....both having the same status....if you buy into this reality.

3.  If you attempt to divide something by zero.....you are wasting valuable time in a math calculation that can have no reasonable outcome.  So, when some idiot comes up and says we need to discuss 'math' and have a formula for dividing by ZERO....just knock the idiot in the head.  

Five Things I'd Like To Do....To Fix The House/Senate

 1.  On day one of your arrival....admit your wealth on paper.  Once you reach five times that amount (or $5-million)....you get 365 days of additional service, then 'leave'.  No arguments....no discussion about fairness.   

2.  At least 100 days out of each year must be spent in your home-state/district. If you fail that.....you lose voting privilege's for a month. 

3.  No one can be allowed to pay-off office employees for abuse or sex-stuff.

4.  Each January as you arrive....you have to show up in a test-room and take a 5-question 6th-grade math test.....the word type.    You have to get four of the five correct.  Failure?  You lose voting privilege's for two weeks, then another chance for the test.  Fail that 2nd one....another two weeks of privileges lost.

5.  In a full year (365 days), you can only be beyond the US border for seven days.  After the 7th day....you lose voting privileges for a month.  Absolutely no travel into a war-zone.   

Seven Things To Be Honest About

 1.  In all the years of use of Yahoo, Google, YouTube, and the one year of Twitter use....there's NOT a single product/service advertised....that I purchased.  Nothing.

I suspect if you asked a thousand people....more than 900 of them would say the same thing.

2.  If I walk into a hardware store (like Home Depot)....I'm there to buy something already in my mind, and needed to for a project.  I've never walked in, with intent of browsing.

3.  Based on the suggestion of cocaine/drug use....I'd say out of the past dozen years....for Hunter Biden, he probably doesn't remember much of anything for twelve months of that period.  It's not a bad thing, but 99-percent of people aren't of this type of memory 'loss'.

4.  If you review all of the J6 coverage, you come to this odd situation where 99-percent of the accused or convicted J6 people....are men.  The gals?  Either they stayed home, or were in some DC bar drinking while their guy was 'flag-waving'.  Just odd on the statistical average of this.

5.  My mute-button-finger is getting awful sore.  I seem to be hitting mute at least twenty times a day now.

6.  Is there really anything worthwhile on Disney-plus streaming video to have the service?  

I joined in the service back in the early part of Covid.  After about 30 hours of use....I came to the point where whatever remained (probably 3,000 hours of stuff)...wasn't of interest to me.  By the 7th month.....I quit.  Maybe they are adding new material every month or two, but it's of zero interest to me.

7.  Reviewing crappy behavior of House/Senate members.....there's probably two-dozen folks who need to be either expelled, or sent off to their district/state jail-house.  Both parties have issues.