My brother referenced a piece written over about Alan Dershowitz (the famed lefty-lawyer) who was now in some minor ways defending Trump, and found himself 'shunned' over in Martha's Vineyard by the anti-Trump crowd which gathers there each summer to heal themselves, find relief from the heat, and chat over the good years of President Obama. Dershowitz says it's impossible for him to find any connectivity or hosts to greet him in the Vineyard area.
So I sat and pondered upon it. Naturally, I came to the Bama conclusion:
Dear Mr Dershowitz:
Normally, we folks in Alabama don't go around and inviting celebrities, stars, or VIPs down to our neck of the woods, for varying reasons (mostly because we think they'd drink up most of the whiskey or take off with our damsels).
But in your case, we'd like to extend a welcome.
The truth is, we kinda admire guys who do stuff like what you did, and stepped way out on the 'plank'. It takes a bit of courage, and crazy-style to go and defend President Trump like you did.
We want to say up front....we just aren't like those Martha's Vineyard crowd folks. We kinda bask in the summer heat, and tend to socialize on the porch. We do sip a good bit of ice tea and lemonade, and if you ask for the stout stuff....folks will quietly bring it out and freshen your drink a bit (extra is not a problem with us, but just don't say nothing about this to the Baptists).
For excitement in the summer, we tend to have five basic experiences: (1) fishing, (2) Baptist revivals, (3) fence painting, (4) NASCAR racing, and (5) softball. I realize these might not fit into your style, but we also tend to get into wild stories on the porch about so-and-so parson who got arrested, or some gossip over the neighbor blowing up his garage by accident, or laying out how such-and-such governor had some mistress that he was paying $400,000 a year on salary. These stories are usually worth sitting on the porch, and hearing in detail.
Occasionally, you might be in a highly cultured group, which chats about the 31 chapters of Proverbs from the Old Testament, or a wild personalized interpretation version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, or some personalized WW II story from Uncle Lonny which seems to be half-true-half-false but we never care about the changing landscape or that he fought both the Germans and Japanese at the same time.
I won't go and say we got it better than those folks in Martha's Vineyard....but we don't hold a grudge against a guy like you. And we kinda think that you deserve better treatment.
So, if you are tired of the Vineyard fake nature.....come on down to Alabama, and give us a chance. We're save you a rocker on the porch, and keep up a tub of crushed ice for your drinks.
Tuesday, 3 July 2018
2018: Grapes of Wrath
Since early 2017, I've sat and watched this 'opera' unfold with the Trump business, and the anti-Trump take-down camp.
The surprising element for me is that in the midst of this whole dramatic opera, few sit and take note that three-million Americans are hired and working today, than as on 1 January 2017. Folks are sitting around and kinda noting that cousin so-and-so who'd been laid off in 2015....is actually working today, and almost ready to buy a new car. Or that Joe's sister who has a worthless degree in women's studies....got hired as a tourism expert for the city of Nashville. Or that Uncle Buddy got hired as a truck-driver last week....at the youthful age of 64.
As you stand and observe this landscape, and people in some transit of life.....I am reminded of the great classic of all time....Grapes of Wrath (by John Steinbeck).
In the mid-1930s....Steinbeck was observing Americana and the negative feeling of people. The depression was having an affect on our lives, and triggering people to take extreme measures. When published in 1939....it quickly moved up into the circles of awards.
For those who don't remember, it was about the Joads of Oklahoma, and how terribles woes had come to them, and they just saw terrible suffering with every twist and turn. They'd gone through the bankruptcy business, and saw terrible drought conditions there on the farm.
So the Joads eventually gave up, and laid out a path to California, where they were going to seek jobs, opportunity, and hope for the future.
I won't go into great detail, but Tom (the chief character) reaches some stage where he has to go off on his own, and the family sits there....existing off of hope.
So, life today is basically the opposite of Grapes of Wrath. Folks have sat around for two to three decades....suffering and watching jobs disappear. They watched the bankruptcy era come and go (2008). They saw fake hope come, over and over.
Then one day, this Trump-fellow comes around. Something odd happens.
It's the entire reverse path of the Joads of 'California'. Suddenly now, there are jobs. There's talk of opportunity. There's some hiring for folks with no real skills. There's talk of companies expanding. Everywhere the Joads turn now....inspiration and a hope for the future. In a way, we need a Steinbeck to stand up and write a modern-day Grapes of Wrath, but it ought to be told the exact opposite way. Instead of Tom (the chief character) reaching some stage where he has to to go off on his own....he's instead announcing his return, and planting himself to a job with the local industry, and the family sitting there in disbelief that this Trump-hope thing....just ain't as fake as they thought.
The surprising element for me is that in the midst of this whole dramatic opera, few sit and take note that three-million Americans are hired and working today, than as on 1 January 2017. Folks are sitting around and kinda noting that cousin so-and-so who'd been laid off in 2015....is actually working today, and almost ready to buy a new car. Or that Joe's sister who has a worthless degree in women's studies....got hired as a tourism expert for the city of Nashville. Or that Uncle Buddy got hired as a truck-driver last week....at the youthful age of 64.
As you stand and observe this landscape, and people in some transit of life.....I am reminded of the great classic of all time....Grapes of Wrath (by John Steinbeck).
In the mid-1930s....Steinbeck was observing Americana and the negative feeling of people. The depression was having an affect on our lives, and triggering people to take extreme measures. When published in 1939....it quickly moved up into the circles of awards.
For those who don't remember, it was about the Joads of Oklahoma, and how terribles woes had come to them, and they just saw terrible suffering with every twist and turn. They'd gone through the bankruptcy business, and saw terrible drought conditions there on the farm.
So the Joads eventually gave up, and laid out a path to California, where they were going to seek jobs, opportunity, and hope for the future.
I won't go into great detail, but Tom (the chief character) reaches some stage where he has to go off on his own, and the family sits there....existing off of hope.
So, life today is basically the opposite of Grapes of Wrath. Folks have sat around for two to three decades....suffering and watching jobs disappear. They watched the bankruptcy era come and go (2008). They saw fake hope come, over and over.
Then one day, this Trump-fellow comes around. Something odd happens.
It's the entire reverse path of the Joads of 'California'. Suddenly now, there are jobs. There's talk of opportunity. There's some hiring for folks with no real skills. There's talk of companies expanding. Everywhere the Joads turn now....inspiration and a hope for the future. In a way, we need a Steinbeck to stand up and write a modern-day Grapes of Wrath, but it ought to be told the exact opposite way. Instead of Tom (the chief character) reaching some stage where he has to to go off on his own....he's instead announcing his return, and planting himself to a job with the local industry, and the family sitting there in disbelief that this Trump-hope thing....just ain't as fake as they thought.
The Thing About this Trump Tariff on German Luxury Cars
Sit and pause over the discussion....which various business journalists are trying to hype but fail to realize.
First, he's not banning (a word often used to confuse people). I've seen three articles in the past hour, which used the word ban. It's a totally false narrative.
Second, the average working-class American doesn't care for luxury German imports anyway. In fact, you can ask a hundred Americans if they've ever sat in a BMW, Audi or Mercedes....and the answer is 80-percent saying 'no', they haven't. If you did military time and was stationed in Germany....it's a fairly high chance you did sit in a older model BMW or Mercedes.
Third, who can typically afford a German luxury-class import (before all this chatter started up)? The basic model of the Audi TT runs at 43,000 dollars, with the stuff on it....near 65,000 dollars. That was before the tariff talk.
Fourth, I come to the meat and potato discussion....the same guy who could afford the BMW at $70,000 last year....will likely be able to afford the tariff situation at $87,000. Oh, I admit....he'll grumble. But if he had $70,000 to throw toward this....he'll accept this. He might delay the purchase a year....waiting on the collapse of the tariff or some change, and I think this is the Trump 'card' being played.
If Trump prevents 50-percent of the normal sales for the premium German luxury cars....the Germans can't find another market to make up for this, and it'll trigger a slow-down at the factories (my guess, by November).
By early 2019, I think the Germans will be reviewing options, and trying to fix the problem. So there are three ways:
1. Build factories in the US to manufacture the German luxury cars (I think BMW would quickly wise-up to this idea).
2. Convince the EU to resolve this mess.
3. Hope on a defeat for Trump in November 2020 (a long way away).
Any idiot journalist who think that the bulk of American voters cares about this, or that they are big-buyers of German luxury cars....needs to drive around the nation and talk to regular people. For a top-ten topic.....it doesn't even rate in the top 1,000 topics for most people.
First, he's not banning (a word often used to confuse people). I've seen three articles in the past hour, which used the word ban. It's a totally false narrative.
Second, the average working-class American doesn't care for luxury German imports anyway. In fact, you can ask a hundred Americans if they've ever sat in a BMW, Audi or Mercedes....and the answer is 80-percent saying 'no', they haven't. If you did military time and was stationed in Germany....it's a fairly high chance you did sit in a older model BMW or Mercedes.
Third, who can typically afford a German luxury-class import (before all this chatter started up)? The basic model of the Audi TT runs at 43,000 dollars, with the stuff on it....near 65,000 dollars. That was before the tariff talk.
Fourth, I come to the meat and potato discussion....the same guy who could afford the BMW at $70,000 last year....will likely be able to afford the tariff situation at $87,000. Oh, I admit....he'll grumble. But if he had $70,000 to throw toward this....he'll accept this. He might delay the purchase a year....waiting on the collapse of the tariff or some change, and I think this is the Trump 'card' being played.
If Trump prevents 50-percent of the normal sales for the premium German luxury cars....the Germans can't find another market to make up for this, and it'll trigger a slow-down at the factories (my guess, by November).
By early 2019, I think the Germans will be reviewing options, and trying to fix the problem. So there are three ways:
1. Build factories in the US to manufacture the German luxury cars (I think BMW would quickly wise-up to this idea).
2. Convince the EU to resolve this mess.
3. Hope on a defeat for Trump in November 2020 (a long way away).
Any idiot journalist who think that the bulk of American voters cares about this, or that they are big-buyers of German luxury cars....needs to drive around the nation and talk to regular people. For a top-ten topic.....it doesn't even rate in the top 1,000 topics for most people.
Monday, 2 July 2018
Just An Odd Suggestion
For the Supreme Court seat.....why not offer it to Sessions (the former Alabama Senator, and current Attorney General)?
First, he's already sat through the 'got-you' situations with the Senate and would easily be accepted by the Senate.
Second, it gets rid of him as the Attorney General, where he's been a 'loser', and you could bring in someone who'd change the dynamics of the Attorney General's office.
Odds of this happening? One in a billion.
First, he's already sat through the 'got-you' situations with the Senate and would easily be accepted by the Senate.
Second, it gets rid of him as the Attorney General, where he's been a 'loser', and you could bring in someone who'd change the dynamics of the Attorney General's office.
Odds of this happening? One in a billion.
Saturday, 30 June 2018
On this Abolish Strategy
Over the past week, I've noticed the Democratic passionate position of abolishing ICE (the border control folks). I sat and paused over this, and pondered.....coming to four observations.
1. They just want to abolish ICE.....they have no interest in gutting the laws which ICE enforces. This would be interesting to play out but it begs the question....if the laws continue to exist....who would enforce them?
2. Without ICE, who exactly does border control? States by the border?
3. If we reach this stage of absolishment sounding good....wouldn't it sound good to get rid of ATF and FBI also being on the list as well? You might actually find a lot of conservatives all pepped up to agree with you and we could make this one single action.
4. If all of this is done....just to recreate a new ICE, in a different form, with a new name....then what was this abolishment all about?
It just seems to me....silly me for thinking this....that this is all fake in nature. To be rather honest, since Democrats are pepped up for absolishing thing....I'd personally like to get rid of the Senate and 100 Senators.
So I think the new twist or response by people ought to be.....let's abolish the Senate, and just see if things improve.
1. They just want to abolish ICE.....they have no interest in gutting the laws which ICE enforces. This would be interesting to play out but it begs the question....if the laws continue to exist....who would enforce them?
2. Without ICE, who exactly does border control? States by the border?
3. If we reach this stage of absolishment sounding good....wouldn't it sound good to get rid of ATF and FBI also being on the list as well? You might actually find a lot of conservatives all pepped up to agree with you and we could make this one single action.
4. If all of this is done....just to recreate a new ICE, in a different form, with a new name....then what was this abolishment all about?
It just seems to me....silly me for thinking this....that this is all fake in nature. To be rather honest, since Democrats are pepped up for absolishing thing....I'd personally like to get rid of the Senate and 100 Senators.
So I think the new twist or response by people ought to be.....let's abolish the Senate, and just see if things improve.
Poem Four: Epic of Gilgamesh
A continuation of my rendition of the Epic of Gilgamesh.....a story which was told around the camp-fires from 4,000 years ago.
If you remember the basis of the story.....Gilgamesh is a young king, who is two-thirds Godly-like material, and one-third mortal man. No one has ever sat down to explain you can be two-thirds, and I think this is told this way....to infer that the whole story is fake to start with.
Gilgamesh has set off on some epic adventure with his buddy Enkidu. The young men are mostly into 'saving the world' and ass-whooping on folks who need it.
The story in poem four basically starts out with the boys noting that they've traveled twenty leagues or 111 kilometer, or 69 miles. They've reached some point for the day (I assume) where they are pretty tired out and just plain hungry. So they stopped and ate some travel food that they had in their possession. No one says if this were grapes, or peanut butter, but I'd assume it was a hearty dinner. The boys continue on after this....for another ten additional leagues.
Walking-wise, it's well over 80 miles in one day, and I'd tend to question this. If they were riding horseback? It'd a harsh situation to think that you rode Flicker or Lil Smokey eighty miles in one single day. So I think the boys made up this part of the story, and they probably never got more than 20 miles.
At some point on this great adventure, they finally walked into Lebanon. No one ever explained why, but apparently they dug a well that faced off to the west. I have my doubts about the well, but somehow, it fits into the story.
Gilgamesh then hiked up some mountain peak, and made peace with the Lord....laying out some flour. He spoke to the Lord: "Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from Shamash."
At the bottom of this mountain....his associate....Enkidu....was busy building up a straw mattress of sorts (they didn't have proper camping gear) for the night. Just then, a heck of a wind came up. We aren't saying it was a tornado or hurricane, but it was enough that you'd notice it. Enkidu then told Gilgamesh to just rest up and sleep.
The story goes that Gilgamesh just didn't sleep well. In the midst of this evening....he woke up....real restless. He's all hyped up and just can't sleep. He's also chatting away, which I suspect bothers the heck out of Enkidu, but he doesn't say much.
Gilgamesh then chats on about some dream, with mountains all around, then the mountains falling down upon them. There's rain, and some flies in this dram.
Enkidu, who is a Daniel Boone-type figure....born in the woods....tells his associate that all is fine with this dream. Enkidu actually thinks this is a pretty good dream. My guess is that he just wanted Gilgamesh to go back to sleep.
But Enkidu talks here a bit, and says that this mountain is Humbaba (the terrible) and it's all relative in some nature. In the morning, says Enkidu....some message will come and make everything good again.
The boys end up repeating this whole episode again....same hike....same well dug....same climb up a hill, and a slightly different dream for Gilgamesh....this time with some vision that relates to a bull. In this case, Enkidu says that it's still Shamash (the terrible). But this is again a demonstration of them taking on this Shamash guy easily.
So another day passes, and they repeat the same thing again. This is the thing about camp-fire stories....you can get them into a pretty long and drawn out episode.
On the third dream....there's some bolt of lightning, and some fire. Enkidu is supposed to have responded about this dream, but this tablet having the text? Well....it's messed up, so you are missing forty lines of advice.
Enkidu might have gone on about his one long lost girlfriend, or the bull he sold off as a kid, or maybe talked up his adventures with some pirates. You just don't know.
So there is a 4th day of walking, and things all repeat themselves yet again. Same dream stuff, and the same advice by Enkidu to worry much about these stupid dreams.
Enkidu finally gives some real advice....let's just go and pay no attention to the threat of death. Maybe things turn out well.
At that point, they pick up their stuff and start off through the evergreen woods, and Enkidu assures his buddy....he's there to protect and save him.
There, poem four ends. The problem you tend to see is that Gilgamesh is a bit fearful of the mission they've undertaken....to do a ass-beating on this Shamash guy. As each day goes by....it's more and more a problem.
If you remember the basis of the story.....Gilgamesh is a young king, who is two-thirds Godly-like material, and one-third mortal man. No one has ever sat down to explain you can be two-thirds, and I think this is told this way....to infer that the whole story is fake to start with.
Gilgamesh has set off on some epic adventure with his buddy Enkidu. The young men are mostly into 'saving the world' and ass-whooping on folks who need it.
The story in poem four basically starts out with the boys noting that they've traveled twenty leagues or 111 kilometer, or 69 miles. They've reached some point for the day (I assume) where they are pretty tired out and just plain hungry. So they stopped and ate some travel food that they had in their possession. No one says if this were grapes, or peanut butter, but I'd assume it was a hearty dinner. The boys continue on after this....for another ten additional leagues.
Walking-wise, it's well over 80 miles in one day, and I'd tend to question this. If they were riding horseback? It'd a harsh situation to think that you rode Flicker or Lil Smokey eighty miles in one single day. So I think the boys made up this part of the story, and they probably never got more than 20 miles.
At some point on this great adventure, they finally walked into Lebanon. No one ever explained why, but apparently they dug a well that faced off to the west. I have my doubts about the well, but somehow, it fits into the story.
Gilgamesh then hiked up some mountain peak, and made peace with the Lord....laying out some flour. He spoke to the Lord: "Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from Shamash."
At the bottom of this mountain....his associate....Enkidu....was busy building up a straw mattress of sorts (they didn't have proper camping gear) for the night. Just then, a heck of a wind came up. We aren't saying it was a tornado or hurricane, but it was enough that you'd notice it. Enkidu then told Gilgamesh to just rest up and sleep.
The story goes that Gilgamesh just didn't sleep well. In the midst of this evening....he woke up....real restless. He's all hyped up and just can't sleep. He's also chatting away, which I suspect bothers the heck out of Enkidu, but he doesn't say much.
Gilgamesh then chats on about some dream, with mountains all around, then the mountains falling down upon them. There's rain, and some flies in this dram.
Enkidu, who is a Daniel Boone-type figure....born in the woods....tells his associate that all is fine with this dream. Enkidu actually thinks this is a pretty good dream. My guess is that he just wanted Gilgamesh to go back to sleep.
But Enkidu talks here a bit, and says that this mountain is Humbaba (the terrible) and it's all relative in some nature. In the morning, says Enkidu....some message will come and make everything good again.
The boys end up repeating this whole episode again....same hike....same well dug....same climb up a hill, and a slightly different dream for Gilgamesh....this time with some vision that relates to a bull. In this case, Enkidu says that it's still Shamash (the terrible). But this is again a demonstration of them taking on this Shamash guy easily.
So another day passes, and they repeat the same thing again. This is the thing about camp-fire stories....you can get them into a pretty long and drawn out episode.
On the third dream....there's some bolt of lightning, and some fire. Enkidu is supposed to have responded about this dream, but this tablet having the text? Well....it's messed up, so you are missing forty lines of advice.
Enkidu might have gone on about his one long lost girlfriend, or the bull he sold off as a kid, or maybe talked up his adventures with some pirates. You just don't know.
So there is a 4th day of walking, and things all repeat themselves yet again. Same dream stuff, and the same advice by Enkidu to worry much about these stupid dreams.
Enkidu finally gives some real advice....let's just go and pay no attention to the threat of death. Maybe things turn out well.
At that point, they pick up their stuff and start off through the evergreen woods, and Enkidu assures his buddy....he's there to protect and save him.
There, poem four ends. The problem you tend to see is that Gilgamesh is a bit fearful of the mission they've undertaken....to do a ass-beating on this Shamash guy. As each day goes by....it's more and more a problem.
The Huey-Factor
In the mid-1920s....Huey Long found a magical path to becoming the governor of Louisiana. What he basically did was circle himself around a concept of 'Share Our Wealth'....which was the first real Bernie-program in existence within the US. He intended to take the oil money that the state was making and plow this into roads and hospitals. As he got into the mid-1930s, he went onto the next program: 'Every Man a King'. In February of 1934, this program was openly discussed, and what people were promised was: a car, a $5,000 home, and a radio.
I know....here in the midst of the depression....he was offering an awful lot and no one could explain where this would come from.
What was being assembled in the spring of 1935, was a Huey Long presidential election campaign, which would start up in the primary season of 1936, and end with him being the official replacement to FDR with the November 1936 results.
Oddly, history doesn't get a chance to play out.
In the early fall of 1935, Long is working on dumping a long-term hated associate of his....Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy. Few folks ever dig down into this hatred thing or how Pavy got on Long's bad side.
But this led to a conflict which would involve the son-in-law of Pavy.
So on the evening of 8 September 1935....Senator Long showed up at the state capital building and around 9:30 PM....and ran into Carl Weiss (son-in-law of Pavy). Carl is noted as a successful doctor from Baton Rouge.
There are various accounts of the minute involved in this episode. Some folks suggest that Carl just wasn't a gun-carrying kind of guy. Some folks suggest that Carl just wanted to talk to Huey.
There is some type of gun action here, and Huey is shot in the torso (figure four feet away). He's bad off but is quickly carried off to the hospital. Here, folks again have various accounts. Some say that Huey got himself a marginally qualified doctor, and the guy just ended up letting Huey die.
The possibility that one of the bodyguards accidentally shot Long? I suspect it's better than a 50-percent chance that this happened.
Carl? Well....Huey's bodyguards then opened up on him, firing away. Carl was dead on the spot. Huey lived on for two days, before passing.
For most people around Louisiana, it was the end of a 'Huey-saga'. He was a year away from the Presidency and would have changed the whole dynamics to America, and likely avoiding WW II in some fashion.
It's figured that 200,000 folks came to Baton Rouge for the funeral. For years, folks sat around and talked about the deal coming with Huey.....the $5,000 house, the car, and the radio.
Whether folks want to believe it or not....this was the first guy presenting the Bernie-deal and suggesting that the government could give free stuff away.
If Huey hadn't been shot? I'm guessing that you would have gotten Huey in office in 1936, and he would have been there through 1948. We would be a much different world today, (hint: I'm not saying this in the positive).
I know....here in the midst of the depression....he was offering an awful lot and no one could explain where this would come from.
What was being assembled in the spring of 1935, was a Huey Long presidential election campaign, which would start up in the primary season of 1936, and end with him being the official replacement to FDR with the November 1936 results.
Oddly, history doesn't get a chance to play out.
In the early fall of 1935, Long is working on dumping a long-term hated associate of his....Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy. Few folks ever dig down into this hatred thing or how Pavy got on Long's bad side.
But this led to a conflict which would involve the son-in-law of Pavy.
So on the evening of 8 September 1935....Senator Long showed up at the state capital building and around 9:30 PM....and ran into Carl Weiss (son-in-law of Pavy). Carl is noted as a successful doctor from Baton Rouge.
There are various accounts of the minute involved in this episode. Some folks suggest that Carl just wasn't a gun-carrying kind of guy. Some folks suggest that Carl just wanted to talk to Huey.
There is some type of gun action here, and Huey is shot in the torso (figure four feet away). He's bad off but is quickly carried off to the hospital. Here, folks again have various accounts. Some say that Huey got himself a marginally qualified doctor, and the guy just ended up letting Huey die.
The possibility that one of the bodyguards accidentally shot Long? I suspect it's better than a 50-percent chance that this happened.
Carl? Well....Huey's bodyguards then opened up on him, firing away. Carl was dead on the spot. Huey lived on for two days, before passing.
For most people around Louisiana, it was the end of a 'Huey-saga'. He was a year away from the Presidency and would have changed the whole dynamics to America, and likely avoiding WW II in some fashion.
It's figured that 200,000 folks came to Baton Rouge for the funeral. For years, folks sat around and talked about the deal coming with Huey.....the $5,000 house, the car, and the radio.
Whether folks want to believe it or not....this was the first guy presenting the Bernie-deal and suggesting that the government could give free stuff away.
If Huey hadn't been shot? I'm guessing that you would have gotten Huey in office in 1936, and he would have been there through 1948. We would be a much different world today, (hint: I'm not saying this in the positive).
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