Can Santa Make It?

 In the midst of the Covid-19 era, the topic of Santa ought to come up.

First, can Santa survive Covid-19 or because of his unhealthy lifestyle (over-eating, lot of soda-drinking, etc)....is he a 'goner'?

Second, can Santa cross over the New York state line without a Covid-19 test?  Will he have to wait two weeks in some Brooklyn quarantine situation?  Will the governor just give him a waiver?

Third, will Covid-19 affect the elves?

Fourth, can the reindeer be affected by Covid-19?  If so, can we get Ford to engineer some type of clean-fuel delivery vehicle for Santa before the evening of the 24th?

Fifth and final....if Santa has Covid-19 symptoms and touches 15 million toys....will the virus 'critters' survive the delivery phase and infect 300-million kids world-wide?  Would it be wise to wipe clean (with Ajax or Windex) all toys that Santa delivers?

Forever Wars and Consequences

 When I joined the Air Force in 1977....Vietnam had been over for roughly 3 years.  Over the next ten years of my life, I'd continually run into some guys who'd been in SW Asia, and the topic of the war would come up.  By the late 1980s...most of these people were gone (either via retirement, alcohol issues, or stress issues).  

I worked with major who'd been through five DWIs and had been directed to Panama for the final four years of his career (the AF was doing him a favor....at least in their mind).  All he had to is show up 2 times a week to fly for 45 minutes, and pretend his way around as 'safety-officer'.  His wife was supposed to drive him around....they trusted him enough to fly a plane, but not to drive a car (go figure).  

On a late afternoon, after a beer or two....he'd launch into any of 300-odd stories of his two tours of duty (Vietnam and Thailand).  The tours and the events stuck with him....ten to fifteen years later.  I often wondered what happened to him after the retirement.  Maybe he settled down in Florida and would spend afternoons at the VFW....consuming cocktails and sharing war stories with other vets.  

Once Desert Storm started up....the forever wars started.  There were countless little deployment activities that consumed tens of thousands of GI's.  Some were fairly serious, with stringent rules of no booze, and marginal safety.  Some were in zones where beer readily flowed and it was almost a party zone. 

A year in these war zones....would consume some people.  They would return back to their normal job and be someone you never knew.  They would complain about sleep (sometimes never getting more than three consecutive hours of sleep).  Some would have hearing problems from the AC unit next to their tent which ran 24 hours a day, for the whole 365 day tour.  Some would be addicted to Monster high-caffeine drinks....guzzling down six a day.  

Officers would be told over and over....to advance your career....you needed a tour to a forever war....to be at this level, or guide x-number of folks.  Two months into the tour, they'd be writing a causality report....explaining how these five guys in the unit were wounded in action....and that each deserved such-and-such medal.  Around six months into the tour, you'd lose your prospective and start counting days till your tour ended.  

The problem was....forever wars simply led onto a second forever war, and then onto a third forever war.

I worked around a Marine who'd done five tours since 1997.  He had four years to go for retirement and figured he'd have to do a minimum of one tour....maybe two....before the end.  He had a list of ailments...all documented...all related to back issues.  He figured a year after retirement....he'd turn the info over and collect a disability payment on top of his retirement.  Resolving the issues?  Other than pain-relievers, there wasn't much the Marines could do.

The four years?  Trump kinda led the Pentagon down this unique path.  He wanted the forever wars to actually end.  The generals?  Well....they've been conditioned to favor the forever wars because there's money to be made for hardware or contracting.  So Trump has basically led the other path....the forever war will end, and you will just pack up to return to the US.  

With Biden?  I suspect his people in the background favor the forever war business....having little understanding of the impact, consequences, or cost-factor.  

As for the folks in Afghanistan?  The sad thing here is that you only a thousand dimwits with juvenile 'war-zest' in their gut, and they can make everything miserable for the nation.  You'd basically need to lead the thousand out to some life end-point and put them out of their misery....to settle the safety and security for the 99.99 percent of Afghans. 

On this one topic, Trump is correct.  This routine of the forever war 'dance' has close down.  Enough is enough.  

What Should a Pair of Nike XYZ Shoes Cost?

 As a kid in rural Alabama in 1975...the top brand of tennis shoe sold was Chuck Taylor basketball type shoes, and typically (at least at K-Mart), they ran for about $12 to $15.  In today's rate....that $15 is really $72.

I admire capitalism at times because it presents thousands of scenarios which should be simply fantasy....but actually come true.

So you'd go to a local tennis shoe shop (something that didn't exist in 1975), and the 'glamour' top brand of tennis shoe is some Nike XYZ tennis shoe, which runs in the $135 to $150 range.  If you did the math....in 2045, this value would be $500.

Is it really worth the $135?  By the time you figure up the raw material...you've got a shoe manufactured by a low-end employee either in Vietnam or China.  That 'build' value is probably in the neighborhood of $30 (manpower included).  Then you throw in the box....shipping....more shipping from the US port, and staging at the US store (figure around $20).  Profit margin for Nike?  Probably $25 per shoe.  Then you have the local store (rental costs are significant), their profit and then advertising....that's up around $60.  

You kinda feel silly at this point....the set of shoes ought to be nearer $50...not $135.

The alternate shoes? The ones for $75?  You are basically buying a set of the same quantity but name-brand-wise....they aren't labeled with 'Nike'.  You didn't pay for advertising with the alternate shoes.  That million-dollar contract with the fake NFL football player?  The alternate guys wouldn't be that stupid....they wouldn't dare go out and hire some 2-star ex-quarterback to front their shoe.

The amusing thing in this discussion....that pair of Chuck Taylor shoes from 1975?  They'd last two or three years and usually get glued-up at least once...to repair them back to use.  Today?  The first time that any issue comes up....you'd dump the shoe and throw $135 out for a brand new pair.  

When Predictable Situations/People Don't Exist Any Longer

I grew up in the 1960s/1970s.  There were a hundred absolutely predictable situations that you could wander into and you knew the outcome in 99-percent of the occasions.

Today?  I can't lay out a normal day or the 999 situations that might develop.  

An example: you'd walk into a Burger King at 10 PM back in 1986, and knew that you could order the menu selection...walk back to the eating area, and knew you could sit there with your associate and have the burger and a discussion in peace.

Today?  There's a 10-percent chance that some drunk idiots will wander into the BK....start a riot or fight with the BK staff, and the physical violence tumbles over into the eating area....where your associate clobbers some dude's girlfriend in the mix of this situation.

An example: you could walk over to some Philly cafe to have a 7 PM wine with flirty gal, and this BLM crew comes through and tries to intimidate everyone seated and trigger a riot.  

An example: you could be seated on a plane....ready to fly out, and this one guy is seated next to a gal with a MAGA-hat on.  She wants him removed from the plane.  The Stewardess eventually decides that the lady herself (not the MAGA-hat guy) is the one who has to be removed.  So you sit there for 30 minutes....idlily.  Then the Fed-Cop enters and drags the lady off the plane.

Just in the average life of a low-key....low-stress guy, there's now around a dozen scenarios per day....which aren't predictable anymore. 

You could be at the local gas station and some whacked-out meth gal comes in with a knife and attempting to kill you because you look like her 3rd husband.  

You could be at the local ice cream hut and some argument starts up between two black gals and they start wrestling around you while you've only had two licks off the cone so far.  

You could be at some bar where two drunk women have started up a physical fight...mostly off a discussion about Bernie Sanders version of socialism and how one is not as deeply enthusiastic about the other's dedication to socialism....with zero sense to this discussion.

We older guys grew up in a very predictable lifestyle.  You could toss the average day to us and the only weird scenarios that would come out.....a blown-out tire, a transmission failure, or some weird lusty wink from the Marathon gas station gal.  

On an expedition vacation of four days to the Ozarks, we might have experienced some lousy food....maybe some drunk guy's wife beating the fire out him in the front yard....or some car fire at a grocery parking lot.  It was a limited list.

Today?  There's a thousand potential extra scenarios.  You might even be standing in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot where some gal has emerged from her car from a 'bath salts' drug experience and completely naked.  You try to imagine the last time that you saw something like this, but just can't remember such an event.

You could be in some gas station about to pay for your fuel, and there's some lady who just entered....hyped-up on some illusionary situation and talking away about this group of four demons at her gas pump.  You kinda stop in mid-sentence with 'Donny' (the clerk) and listening to two minutes of non-stop chatter.....over demon 1, 2, 3, and 4.  At some point, you even ask the lady if these demons are dressed in demon attire or regular clothing.  'Donny' just wants you to pay, and the demon-lady to leave.

So where does this path lead onto?  Some Stephen King-like lifestyle where it's more unpredictable than predictable?  

Just Something To Think About

 One of the determined and absolute groups in existence in America....on regulation and must-do attitudes...is the medical profession.  As much as you'd like to rate computer geeks and engineers at the top of the repeat-behavior professions...the med folks rank higher.

So then you ask the stupid question if all of this hygiene and repeatable behavior has accomplished anything much in preventing medical folks from getting Covid-19?  

Well....no.

If their well-regulated and repeated sense doesn't work, then you might want to stand back and admire this landscape.  It means whatever governors or mayors cook up....has more or less little affect on the spread of the virus.  

This Idea of Bush, Obama and Clinton Getting Vaccinated on TV?

 This started up here in the AM today....Bush, Clinton, and Obama....all going to some camera situation where the three would get vaccinated with the Covid-19 'magic-juice'.

I sat there and imagined this scene.

It'd be live, and probably carried by CNN, Fox, and the big three networks.  

Probably behind them....twenty-odd Hollywood stars, five or six NFL/NBA stars, and maybe even the last ten Miss America winners.

But somewhere in the midst of this live gimmick show....Bill Clinton (74 years old) gets some dose and something wild starts to happen, and Bill flip over on the carpet, with six medics all rushing up.  Some type of crazy reaction with something in Bill's bloodstream.  

Fourteen million folks watching this, and the CNN guy trying to explain this....then cutting to some commercial.  In a matter of three minutes....the bulk of Americans decide that the vaccine might not be for them.  

The truth of the matter....with Bill and all that crazy drug business in the 1980s/1990s....it was simply a reaction that you could not predict with the stupid vaccine testing program.  Who would have thought....maybe you ought to test serious cocaine users from 30 years years ago?  

Here's the thing....thirty years ago, this gimmick type of show made a difference. Today, with skeptical nature maxing out, the 'show' doesn't sell well.   

What's It Means If You Are a Progressive?

(This is my definition)

Generally, ordinary people are supposed to be 'lifted-up', and brought to a better place in life (even if they don't want to go to your place, and would prefer you not to lift them).

Somehow in this vision....you can see some 'enchanted' place where life is better and you know the path to reach it.  You are going from a uncivilized society (in your vision) to a civilized society.

How do you go from 'A' to 'B'?  Well, you use technology, economic development, various organizations (some are created out of thin air), science, and general BULLSHIT chatter (propaganda or just plain lies).  

Somewhere in this discussion, there is always some form of inequality.  It might be financial, racial, status, job opportunity, political in nature, sexual, or even religious/faith situations.

In simple terms, if you go back to the 1700s and view all of the progressive attempts in societies across the US and Europe....it was always two steps forward, and one step back.  Most people came to view progressive changes as necessary, and then wake up months or years later to grasp that it was a success/failure formula. 

Selling it in today's atmosphere?  As long as you believe that you fall into a inequality 'pit', and you need someone to 'lift' you out....then you are for progressive resolutions.  If you aren't identifying as a loser in this mess....then you probably aren't pro-progressive.  

The fact that most all acts of progressive 'repairs' cost something?  Well...this is the tough pill to swallow.  There's a price-tag on each repair and you might want to ask about this ahead of time.  

Selling progressive resolutions to skeptical people?  It doesn't work.  This is the chief weakness of the concept, and you can't get past this point. 

As for the current trend to run it's path and be stopped at some key point?  More than likely, but it's always a twist of 'entertainment' and frankly....all that progressive stuff from the 1970s/1980s....have stalled out.  We need fresh fake stuff to entertain ourselves today.