The "Other" Debt

You would think there would be alot more turmoil and protests over the debt games being played out in Washington.  There ought to be protesters....angry mobs hating Republicans....upset conservative folks....etc.  But there aren't.  So why?

Well....because Joe, your neighbor (age 30), owes $80k in college loans and he admits he won't be finished paying this off for another 20-odd years.

Aunt Maude, your beloved aunt, owes near $60k on seven VISA cards that she uses regularly to shop QVC....and will likely never pay off the cards before she passes on.

Charley, your favorite barber, owes $70k on a brand-new car that he bought.  He admits that he has never cleared more than $32k a year on salary but he's willing to take out a eight-year loan to get this sports car of his dreams.

Claude, your cousin?  He bought the $350k house back in 2007, with only $35k in the down-payment.  The house has gone down in value to $200k now and Claude is contemplating just handing the keys to the house over to the bank and declaring bankruptcy.

Karl, who lives down the street....wrapping up divorce number three?  He works sixty hours a week and barely takes home $1400 after paying alimony and child-support to the three ex-wives.  He's 42 and says he might find the right woman next time....if not....he'll be bankrupt by that point.

Sid, who bought property in Vegas as an investment in 2020?  The value just dumped by fifty percent and he's still paying $450 a month for this "investment opportunity".  It may take twenty years for the property to get back up to its original value....and maybe sell.

Tim, your buddy from high school?  He finally found a job after three years of unemployment....but had to move to Fargo, North Dakota to achieve this honor.  He lives out of a RV because his wife won't move to Fargo....and most all his check goes to the wife and kids at the old house.  

Frankly, we have become a huge debt crowd....in a debt nation, with no real grasp of what it was like in the 1970s.  Before the credit cards, QVC, massive college costs, alimony-on-top-of-alimony, and stupid property prices.....we were living a simple life, without much debt.  The same could be said for the nation itself.  We didn't build museum after museum.  We didn't build bridges on a whim.  We didn't hand out cash to research teams to figure out why bears like honey.

So, as you sit back tonight.....counting the few dollars left in your billfold....and watching a bunch of news folks get excited about the evil Republicans, the dimwitted Democrats, or the President's five-star speeches....you kinda wonder why anyone should get excited.  Until you've charged $80k on a couple of VISA cards....you really don't grasp debt or the depth of problems.  Course, the reverse is true too....if you as a nation owed a trillion dollars.....you really don't know debt.

Only in America.

Unemployment Rate for Huntsville, Alabama?

 My German wife....eager to hype the negative nature of unemployment in America....was utterly shocked....December  2025 numbers for Huntsville, Ala...1.9-percent.

What this generally means?

If you run a BK or McDonalds operation...you probably have a full-time HR guy constantly recruiting, and a french-fry guy/burger flipper is probably paid $10/12 an hour starting out, and making $15 an hour within 3 months (to keep them there).

Across the board....you could marginally pass out of high school, and within three years...probably make $17 an hour easily.

Aliens Chatter

 I sat and watched a AM podcast interview with the actor Laurence Fishburne (one of the few Hollywood actors that I truly enjoy watching)....so the topic of aliens/UFOs come up and the podcast gal asks Fishburne...what he thinks: (he says)

“I think they walk among us…I think they’re right here with us and we just don’t know who they are.”

To be honest, it wouldn't shock me some 'truth' were to arrive where we found around 100,000 aliens live among us....paying taxes....flying planes....running bars...repairing transmissions....working as soap-opera stars....wrestling...NCAA football coaching, and even being a President.

Why?  Well....if you were highly advanced....you probably are fairly bored and wish to have some adventure (West-World type).  So some travel agency exists....providing you a year of language training, and some basic trade skill....then whisk you off to Earth with some 10-year adventure.

Are People 'Blessed' With Such A Low IQ....That They Can't Gather-Up An ID Or Present It?

 This AM, I pondered for half-an-hour about presenting an ID to vote, and if the real problem was a quarter of society has a IQ level of 65 to 75....meaning they are destined for food-prep-help, farm-work, assembly jobs, and House-of-Representatives work.

The question is....if you 'herded-up' a thousand of the low-IQ people....could 50-percent of them be unable to prove anything for a ID situation, or that they are even a US citizen?

Then the bigger question comes up....do you want the low-IQ  people voting?  I pondered over this for a while.  I don't mind asking low-IQ guy to flip burgers, haul hay,  or do dimwit-level work for the Senate job...but if they are this stupid....do I want them to have the right to vote?

So I'll just say it....this whole ID talk we are having presently....is a 50-foot deep 'hole' and we might want to have a serious conversation.

Harris Chatter

 I sat this AM...watching a interview of former VP Harris, and the topic of mandating an ID to vote.

For a brief 20 seconds, Harris seemed to have the clarity and competence of a 16-year-old teenage girl....then  she said something to the effect that rural folks didn't have access to a Xerox machine, so they couldn't have copies of documents their American citizenship or residency.  This led me back to her mental side being that of a 8-year old girl.

I grew up in the 'boonies'....at least I considered it boonieish.  Today?  The forty-odd houses on the county road....all have multi-printers with Xerox/fax capability.  McDonalds?  There's one six miles away. The dry-county status dissolved around 15 years ago. Ninety percent of folks have internet capability and cable-TV.   On a boonie-index (1-to-10)....we probably won't get past '2'.

All these Democrat folks who seem passionate about about the rural folks existing along some 1940-timeline?  I think they need to take a month off....just travel around the nation, and talk to people.