The Less is Less Story

 The Washington Post went and did a commentary....basically telling Americans that you need to show some 'courage', and just accept "lower expectations" in 'Biden's America'.

Micheline Maynard is the one who wrote the piece, and it's aimed primarily at consumers.

The attitude of the piece?  Americans are spoiled rotten, and mollycoddled.  The suggestion is that it's been going on for decades. 

So I sat and pondered upon the piece, the necessity for it to be written, and the implications.

First, I'm guessing that Maynard stops each morning at Starbucks and buys a $5 cup of coffee, and she might be still functioning in the spoiled rotten situation.

Second, it would make perfect sense to lower expectations if we were in a state of war, or some tidal wave had wiped out California entirely.  

Third, I would agree there are probably a dozen reasons for the logistical problems that exist.  One of them....the port union folks in LA stood against automation in the 1990s, and we operate a third-world operation there which marginally works even in a non-Covid era.  The union mollycoddled itself, in this case.

Fourth, accepting 'less' being a norm?  Go tell President Biden or any of the 100 Senators.  

Fifth, the last time I checked....a basic subscription to the Washington Post for a single month is $10.  If Maynard is correct....maybe folks shouldn't accept the Post deal unless they cut the price by 30-percent.

Sixth, what if we did go this route of accepting 'less'?  What if we all agreed from today (20 Oct) for the next hundred days....we would all spend less....eat less....drink less.....and start cutting our personal budget by one-third (all of us could admit it's possible).  You would see a magnificent wave of commerce failing because of our incredible dedication.  We could set America back two decades on the commerce scale, and cut the government tax revenue gimmick at the same time.  I'm guessing that wasn't the intention of Maynard.

Seventh, I sense this propaganda-piece by Maynard as a suggestion that the Christmas season coming up (probably appearing by Black Friday weekend) to be a fairly crappy commerce season.  President Biden going out and trying to stall our discontent?  It just won't work, and Maynard is more of a mouth-piece than a real journalist.

There is a quote which fits well here: "The minute you settle for less than you deserve....you get even LESS than you actually settled for."

The 'Lost' Generation

 When I was in the Air Force.....about once every four months....someone would post a note on the entry door of the barracks.  It typically read 'Maintenance folks coming next Monday afternoon to repair such-and-such'.  

They did the warning note mostly to ensure you didn't have some rendezvous going on with some lady.   

I noticed this week.....a private Ohio college....Oberlin College (liberal arts school) had posted up a maintenance warning like this, for radiators.  Yeah, these weren't ultra modern dorms....these were the old style which still had radiators, and they were installing new ones.  

I admit.....it's late in the season to do this, and it probably should have been in July.

So here's the thing (reported in the news).....college kids got upset and scared....mostly because maintenance MEN were the ones showing up and doing the work.  The dorms you see.....were supposed to be 'safe-zones' for women and trans people.

In simple terms....this maintenance situation became a four-star 'goat-rope' (a 1950s term for a cluster-fu*k).

I sat and thought about this dilemma.

How could these college kids survive riding on aircraft, trains, or buses?

How could these college kids survive with home repair being done mostly by husky guys with beards?

How could these college kids survive with their transmission repair job being done by big chunky men?

How could these college kids survive with taxis being driven by Afghan Islamic characters?

The list goes on and on.  They will graduate....attempt to pursue careers in the real world, then find that their fantasy world easy collapses without much effort.

The question to ask.....how did we reach this stage where people freak out over guys replacing radiators?  

Demonizing Wealth and Success

 In the 1990s, you might have bumped into five people in an average year (traveling around or working) that had problem with people who amassed wealth or showed success in their life.  Today?  An average guy probably bumps into forty people minimum in a year....that have a problem with successful people or people who have wealth in their background.  

You can call it jealousy....resentfulness....whatever.

Via the internet, you see a lot of college students who show this behavior and often want to accuse the guy/gal of being 'greedy' or 'selfish'.  So the chatter starts up....we need to tax that guy more....to redistribute their money to others.

You notice occasionally people trying to lecture others....not to be successful....hold back your 'urges'...or to demonize you over your 'evils' in life.

Where this all leads onto?  You have to sit and ponder over the future, and how regular Americans will survive.  Our heart and soul has been to get ahead....work for goals, and achieve success.  This resentment group are standing in the midst of our path for the future.  

Cognition Tests?

 I noticed in the past couple of days....Senator Bill Cassidy (actually a doctor) has suggested that cognition tests ought to be mandated no only to the executive branch of government.....but also to the leadership legislative branch.

So what would happen if a mandate occurred and you demanded not only the President and Vice-President took the cognition tests yearly, but the rest of the cabinet officials and the next 500 executives/generals of the government?  Personally, I'd take a guess that at least a dozen would fail the first round of the tests....openly challenge the quality of the test, and five or six would be forced to retire.

If forced in the House/Senate....just among the top of each party, the House Speaker, and the head of each committee?  Presently, I'd suggest at least three people failing the cognition tests.  

What'd we notice is that it's mostly all people over the age of seventy or people who'd been identified as heavy drinkers for the past thirty years of their life.

Is it even possible to mandate this?  I doubt it....without the power of the Constitution....it won't occur.  

What'll eventually happen?  I suspect at some point in 2022....some episode will unfold at the White House where Joe Biden goes to some extreme and spends five minutes lecturing people over some silly non-existent problem, or talking about his brief non-existent season in the NFL as a quarterback for the Rams.  

At that point, the general public will ask why we can't test these folks. 

The 'Bad' Joe Story

 So Mark Dice (the guy who shows up on college campuses and asks stupid questions)....does a bit on a campus....letting people (college kids) know that Joe Rogan shot and killed a triceratops (the dinosaur).  He has a petition to say that Joe is 'bad', and asks if the 'kid' would sign it....to condemn Joe.  You can view it here. 

Several observations:

1.  People (college kids) actually signed it.  I get the impression that 'bad' Joe is on their list to condemn.

2.  The triceratops angle doesn't seem to catch them at all.....meaning their critical thinking skills (while in college) are near zero.

3.  They all seem eager in some weird way to condemn Joe, without thinking much of what's said.

4.  Each are over the age of 18, and it is worrisome that they can vote.

5.  A fair number of the folks were at least in college, but it begs the question....should they be there or selling used cars?  It just doesn't seem they are getting critical thinking skills, and will be utterly dependent for the rest of their lives on others to think for them.  

Just something to think about.

Gut Feeling on Netflix's 'Another Life'

 This is a science fiction series....opening up the second season in the past week or two.  

I sat through season one and just kept thinking....surely they will hire new writers and improve the script.  

Chief problems?

Most everyone on this space vessel....is a 'loser'....to the 3rd degree.  The characters....even the 'Captain' were written that way.  If they were on a truck going to Nashville and the tire went flat....they'd all stand there for an hour....talking about the implications of the tire, and suggest six different ways of resolving the flat tire problem.

The aliens?  You keep thinking....they might actually be 4-star bad guys, but then something will come up to suggest they are just neutral bad guys.  I'm to the point where I think the aliens are just some AI computer and punch-drunk on some Bill Gates code-writing.  

Exciting?  There's maybe a 60-second piece in each segment where you kinda feel excitement, and then?  It just drains into a pile of crap.

The AI-guy?  Zero character....zero charm.....zero likeability.  You could do better with the idiot robot on the 1960s 'Lost in Space'.

They spent a ton of money on graphics, and it shows like a five-star series....that's the weird part of the series.

Sexual issues?  Various little elements pop up and there's a ton of gender problems going on, or just plain regular sexual tension.  They all seem to need entry into some Daytona Beach swinger's bar but just keep talking about how it was weeks or months ago.

I'm up to episode two of the new season, and just shaking my head.  So much potential and it's run by juvenile management and no real theme.

Pentagon and the Covid-War?

 Two odd things are going on with the US Navy and the Covid vaccination business.

First, the Seals are using religious conviction to decline the vaccinations.  Odds of this working?  They've probably already gotten the Yellow Fever and Cholera shots.....so the religious angle is questionable.

But in the midst of this.....the Navy said that if you do this (as a Seal)....they can demote you....seize some of your pay....remove you from your Seal duty....then make you pay your money back.  

Naturally, this intensifies the court action (roughly 34 Seals have a case brewing)..

Second, the Navy says all money used to produce a Seal (going up into several million) will have to be repaid.  

The problem here....once they reach the Supreme Court....the Navy will be asked if the lowest cook on the Covid-kick-out list is required to pay his training money back. 'No' is the likely answer.  The radar-guy?  The firemen?  The nuke-power technician?

The court will establish that if you died on day one of official duty as a Seal.....no one takes a penny out of your paycheck to pay for past training.  

In simple terms....this whole mess will linger around for 2 to 3 years.  Counter-suit?  More than likely and I'm guessing each guy affected will ask for lawyer cost, and at least half-a-million in damages.  

Massive public relations damage done in the midst of this business?  Yeah....even if they wised up in 2022 (don't expect it).....it'd still linger as a frustration item for five years minimum.