Covid Crap

 Some topic came up yesterday.  All roughout 2020....folks got hyped-up (mostly negative) about Covid.  By May of the year, it was a permanent top three topic for Americans.

So when the election ended, and Biden came into office, the expectation was that Covid as a major discussion item would 'end'.

Folks kinda sat there in January....thinking in roughly a hundred days....Covid would slide to a number five to number ten item, and maybe by the end of the year....be just a ten to twenty 'worry-problem'.

So here we are....Covid is still a top three problem, and it's discussed probably a dozen times a day in some work situations.  

Biden's whole 'house of cards'?  It lays there.  

There's hardly a press conference that goes by in the White House....where Covid isn't dragged up.  Luckily for two weeks, we had that mess with Afghanistan.....but eventually....even there, Covid came back.  Even with the admitting of UFOs....that barely lasted ten days, then Covid came back.

If I were Biden, I'd go to the controllers of the networks and major newspapers....begging them to just halt all reporting of Covid, and order the CDC to just go out and find something else to worry about.  

If we are still standing there in the middle of 2022.....chatting over Covid as a top three topic?  It only hurts Biden's goals.  

The Condom Discussion

 Around forty years ago, scientists, politicians and social agenda people made it a big deal that when some 'action' occurred between consenting adults....a condom needed to be worn.  

This year (in the last month)....out in California....they reached a new plateau on the condom deal.  If in the middle or toward the end of the act.....if this guy were to stop for a second and do some 'quickie-move' to remove the condom (then continue on)....he needs to stop his actions and ask for permission from the gal or guy.  

You can imagine this scene where a discussion starts up....maybe for ten to twenty minutes, and the arousing moment has come to pass, and this discussion opens up this need for a six-pack of beer or a couple of shots of rum.

If you failed to discuss this or get an understanding?  Well....it's sexual battery.

A misdemeanor conviction on sexual battery?  It's worth six months in jail (up to 1 year) and $2,000 in a fine (actually $3,000 if they were an employee of yours).

A felony conviction on sexual battery?  It's worth two to four years of prison, and a max fine of $10,000.

What'll happen over the next year?  I would go and suggest at least three-hundred cases involving the condom business.  In some cases, you might even have one single woman who has alerted the police on a dozen guys.  

All of this will eventually lead to some digital contract that party 'A' and party 'B' sign and submit to some online service.....indicating they both agree to a 'remove-the-condom' event being approved.  As silly as it sounds....it's the bold new world we live in. 

But this will also lead to a conversation stage where some women and guys will want a long two-hour discussion over sexual practices, intentions, past behavior, and general hygiene habits of their male partners.....which to most guys....will be too much talking and sharing of personal data.  Some guys will just draw the line and say.....'you know what, I don't need this California regulation on my back....so I'm leaving the state.'

As funny as it sounds.....a condom will help to trigger another exit stage from the state.

Explaining This Difference Between ISIS-K and the Taliban

 Ever since the Afghan crisis started up (still continuing, just don't tell Joe that)....I've had this curious nature over the Taliban and their archenemy....the ISIS-K 'team'.

I thought, from a western prospective going back several years....that any team that was pro-Muhammad/Islam was probably friendly with another team that was pro-Muhammad/Islam.  Well....I was wrong.

So after a fair amount of reading....there is this epic saga that I need to lay out.

You see....group 'A' and group 'B' have differing views on the Muhammad Hadith business.  What's a Hadith?  In this period that Muhammad lived (over 1,200 years ago).....various people observed Muhammad, his words, and his actions.....then had Hadiths they wrote up (basically interpretation of what they felt he said or would have said).  Then some others had an opposing Hadith (a differing interpretation of they felt he said or did).  

Down one path went the Taliban, and down the opposing path went ISIS-K.

The ISIS-K crowd?  They have this 'story' which concerns a end-of-the-world prophecy (yeah, kinda like those Christian folks who have the Revelations chapter to deal with).

This 'story' basically concerns a battle, where true Muslims (not pretender Muslims or fake Muslims) will fight the epic final battle against the evil non-Muslims.

There's a video existing....fine propaganda-like story, which tells this story over how things will be at Dabiq, Syria.....where things will come to a close.  

Dabiq in reality?  It's a fairly green valley area in northern Syria...maybe 10 miles from the Turkish border.  Folks there mostly farm.  Maybe 3,000 residents in the whole district, and most would describe the area as a pretty quiet place.

How Dabiq ever got onto the legend business of some epic soon-to-be battle?  Well....it simply got onto a Hadith and no one really stood there to ask questions.  

I will admit....around 500 years ago, some battle did occur there already, but this was a Turk-versus-Mamluk Sultanate group.  The Sultanate group?  It's an oddball group composing of a minimum of seven ethnic groups (Crimeans, Greeks, and Albanians among the group).  Certainly not crusader types unless you really stretch the meaning.

So you stand back and look at this landscape.  In some funny way....the Taliban guys are regarded as not full-up Muslim folks.  The ISIS-K group?  They see only themselves as full-up members.

All of this leading back to various Hadiths....are basically lectures of what people felt Muhammad meant by this and that?  More or less.  

Observations: 10 Oct 2021

 1.  Did the White House press spokesperson say that President Biden's polling is mostly bad because of unvaccinated people? 

Yes.  You can laugh over the statement but it was 'dished-out' to the news groups.  This group of unvaccinated people.....are they 99-percent anti-Biden?  Zero proof of that statement.  

2.  Is it possible to have this Biden slogan 'Build, Back, Better'....if you don't have the workers to do so?

It's almost like you need 500,000 Mexicans to cross the border immedately....to give you enough manpower to 'B.B.B'.  

3.  Is there a Biden 'plan' for the border?

No.  This is the odd piece to this whole border crisis story.  It's like you delivered seven tons of construction material to some guy....who didn't really have an idea over building anything. So the stuff just lays there in the front yard....waiting.

Is President Biden's Entire Problem....That He Wants to Be the Anti-Trump?

 About a month ago.....after hearing either Joe or his press secretary, or some VIP of the Administration talk about trying to fix what Trump broke....I just finally lost my patience with the argument.

Joe basically needs to be Joe....nothing else.  He shouldn't have ever started the campaign or his Presidency with the thought....he's supposed to be the anti-Trump.  It's like a 5,000 pound boat anchor, and he can't maneuver or float in any direction.

The border crisis.....the economy crisis....the Covid crisis....the Afghan crisis....the France-sub crisis, and so on?  It's all a staging event to be the anti-Trump.  

Is he stuck on this theme?  Presently, I don't know.  Maybe his advisers all think it's the wise thing to do....just spend four years being the anti-Trump.  But in this case.....what exactly has he accomplished in 2021 so far?  Anything much?  Enough to write on two pages of bond paper?

Either let Joe 'free', and just stand there with this gimmick of the anti-Trump.  I can tell you the anti-Trump act....by the end of 2023.....will be a five-page piece of a marginal Presidency.  

College Cost Spiral

 So I'm going to point this story from over at Real Clear Investigations, which asks a pretty dramatic question over colleges and just what they can afford to do.  

With all the woke stuff from the past decade.....no one really goes over court business....where a student's rights were violated.  

They bring up Harvard (the University) and this 2017 court episode which is still brewing.  A racial admissions policy is in court, and has burned through 25-million dollars so far, without an end.  

The chief insurance company covering cost?  Their policy is wiped out, and the university is now suing a second insurance company.....saying they need to cover continuing cost of the unfinished case.  The company (Zurich) say 'no'.....challenging this in court.

University of North Carolina?  Same story.

They go through various colleges with woke business and legal challenges, and it's eating up their insurance....driving the rates higher....year by year.

Impacting the cost of higher education?  Well, you can't help but feel that as each year passes....there's another thousand here and there....added to the tuition or various fees of the university system....to cover wokeness.

All of this leading to a fear of risk?  You can't help but feel that administrators are sitting there now and asking stupid questions.

If this led to a yearly tuition fee of $60k for what was $24k just a dozen years ago?  Who'd pay that much for what ought to be $30k max.  

Real Remote and Rural

 My brother brought up the topic of New Zealand and the subject of remoteness.  Back in 2018, I made an 18-day swing through NZ, and came to a number of conclusions about life in rural areas, and living remote.  

Let me describe how it is in NZ.

Imagine the scene in 'Castaway' (Tom Hanks on the island)....where at the end, there's Tom at the four-way intersection and asking the lady about directions.  She says in a matter-of-a-fact way.....if you take the west road....you end up here.  If you take the east road, you end up there.  It's probably one of the most dramatic scenes of any movie made in the past thirty years.

So, here you are in NZ, at some four-way intersection in a highly rustic area.  Now draw a 70-mile circle.

If you take the road west, the only civilization is 15 miles away, right before you hit the ocean.  It consists of a gas station, a local pub, a church/cemetery, and a Co-Op/gardening shop.  A hundred people make up the entire population.  In the past twenty years, the biggest thing that has ever occurred....some tourist whipped into the gas station with his RV on fire.  Everyone in town came over to watch it burn to the ground, and later offered up an open drink situation for the poor tourist at the local bar.  

If you take the road north, it winds down through valleys and curves for about 45 miles....taking you about an hour at the safe speed limit to reach civilization. This town consists of three-thousand people.  It's mostly known for the one border collie that has memorized one-thousand commands, and having three ladies all born in the same year with the name 'Ruby-such-and-such'.  Six bars, two gas stations, a school, and a hardware store make up the bulk of commerce.  

If you take the road east?  You endear 22 miles of fairly dangerous driving, 16 bridges crossing creeks that often flood, and eventually reach some town of 1,000 residents.  They've got a gas station and a community center mostly known for Friday night dances.  They have the only public radio station in the region, but mostly run by four older ladies who discuss love-found/love-lost, and often depressing chatter over men's manners.

If you take the road south?  It's a clear straight shot of non-dangerous driving, for about 42 miles....with mostly abundant roadkill.  The town at the end of this trip?  Around 14,000 and the only real point of real civilization.  They have a clothing shop or two, plenty of bars, and a theater with two shows nightly.  

So you gaze at the intersection, and look at the three neighbors you have within 2 miles.

Gus is the hobby-welder, hobby-carpenter, hobby-roofer, hobby-plumber, hobby-electrician, and seems to be the only neighbor who has ever left NZ for any length of time...spending four years in France.  His wife (Monique, a former French gal) is some far-out hippy type gal who grows 150 varieties of vegetable/fruit in her massive garden.

Martin is the next neighbor, who is mostly a cattle/sheep rancher, and has enough knowledge to be a licensed veterinarian (if he'd ever taken this serious).  He repairs tractors and cars on the side.  His wife, Ann, is a bit crazy and reads around seventy-five books a year....mostly Doctor Bob-and-Nurse Ingrid romance novels. She has a library in one corner of the house with over 3,000 books in the room.

Karl is the last neighbor, who averages at least one near-death accident per year, and seems to be addicted to dangerous situations.  His passion is the farm-ranch, with every single post on the fence line painted green.  He claims that he average 88 hours per week on his work-schedule.  His wife, Mona, is the only licensed nurse within 25 miles.  Mona mostly paints on her spare time....mostly rural settings where one person stands in the midst of a huge valley.

Growing up in Alabama....I had this one single image of remote and rural....but after leaving NZ....I came to realize on the remote/rural scale (1 to 10)....I barely hit '4'.  The NZ folks were a solid '10'.