Observations: 22 Oct 2021

 1.  Is there an International Pronouns Day?

Yes, every 3rd Wed of Oct....having started in 2018.  You are supposed to make an effort to be vigilant on respecting people's pronouns.  My chief question, having heard this.....is there a International Adjectives Day as well?  I always felt adjectives were more important than verbs, nouns, etc.  It's like using the phrase 'stupid people', and how well 'stupid' really fits into the expression.

2.  Is the new comic details of the 'son' of Superman being bi-sexual a bit 'erotic'?

I finally sat down and viewed around four drawings of the new comic, and will offer the observation that it's a bit lewd/wanton.  Some people would openly discuss the new genre existing....like 'soft-sex' comics with aliens having relations with Marvin, or some Dracula-gal all over Marvin.  It's an arousing fantasy scheme....more than a Batman/Superman 'saving-Earth' dynamic.  

3.  Did Biden say gas prices are not going down anytime soon?

Yes, and you get the impression that he meant.....not just 2021, or 2022.  

4.  Department of Labor (US) suggesting that 401k accounts have 'rules' that mandate progressive political agendas?

Well....yeah, they've put this paper out there to suggest they can mandate this and it'd be for the greater 'labor' good of Americans.  On the list of the top ten most stupid things I've heard in 2021.....this makes the list.  Generally, on 401k strategies....your goal is to grow money and avoid high risk schemes.  You don't want the Department of Labor anywhere near your money.

5.  The odds of Netflix kicking off Dave Chappelle from their network, for trans-scaring fragile people?

Up until this week, I would have said only a 1-percent chance.  Presently, I'd say it's near 50-50.  However, if they were to do this....it'd be a massive reaction for people to dump their account (plenty of alternate sources now).  

Observations: 21 Oct 2021

 1.  Isn't all this movement of immigrant kids around America....basically human trafficking sanctioned by the US government?

Well....the fact that it occurs at night, and no one from the White House talks about this....does hint of human trafficking.  But you kinda notice....no one from the Democratic side of the Senate seems worried.  Just an odd scene....like you walked into a party where seven people lay dead on the floor and no one seems to know how they came to be dead.

2.  Any truth to Senator Manchin (D, West Virginia) converting to Republicans?

Well.....he says 'hell NO'.  Several state papers in WV are saying there's some substance here, and maybe he's talking to McConnell over getting Chair over Appropriations Committee (meaning that Selby from Alabama might be in some transit situation (stepping down)).

If he goes?  Well....Biden is toast for getting anything done for rest of 2021 and all of 2022.  Just something to think about.

3.  Illinois sheriffs saying they won't send help, if Chicago dismisses the no-vax police?

To put this in prospective....Chicago says they can mandate the vax business and fire cops who refuse.  Creating a shortage?  No doubt about that, and their only way to find a temp solution....is to get the state sheriffs around the state to contribute vaccinated deputies to fill the gap.  

If they don't get the deputies?  I'd say wild crazy stuff will start within a week, and Chicago would turn into some massive chaos.  

4.  Finally, NIH admitting 'gain-of-function' research funded by Fauci?

Yeah....NIH went yesterday.....admitted funding occurred and Wuhan's lab was doing 'something'.  In most countries, a prosecutor would be on Fauci's situation and conducting a search warrant.  Here in the US?  Nothing. 

Another Problem?

 I tried to make sense out of this headline: "Disaster in the Making: 12,000 Afghans in U.S. Now with No ID Whatsoever."  It's from Front Page Mag.

If you follow American voting chatter.....there must be over one-million Americans citizens walking around, without an ID.  No one says much about this, and certainly, you won't stop them from voting. 

On Mexicans or other foreigners walking around without an ID?  It's anyone's guess, but I would go and suggest a minimum of one million, and probably going up to around three to four million.

Even if you got fancy about this.....'giving' them a state ID of some type....who would pay for it?  And if this made sense.....why not give those Americans walking around a free ID, and then mandate the ID for voting.

On my list of things to worry about?  It probably rates near the 16,808 number on my list.  

Is There Such A Thing as 'Biden-Unity'?

 I think among the forty-odd promises made by Joe Biden in 2020.....this talk of bringing unity finally to the nation (after four years of Trump and a questionable period of eight years of Obama-unity).....about 80-percent of us will agree that Biden-unity is non-existent.

To some degree, I might even go and suggest that among Democratic-leaning voters...even half of them would laugh and say Biden-unity is a fantasy....mostly to the degree that it will never come before 2025 (when Biden leaves).

If you tried to engage people on this topic....most would just laugh and ask if you have anything better to discuss....like potholes in the neighborhood, dog-tricks, recommended motor oils for riding mowers, or least favorite NCAA football team.

Should this even be brought up to Joe?  He'd probably ask who the hell promised that, and did they understand the 'real-world'?

Ten Things I Have Lowered My Expectations On

 1.  CNN.  Muting CNN is just something I've gotten used to and expect to occur at least ten times per hour.

2.  NFL football.  It's been about five years now, and I've lowered my expectations down far enough....that I don't even watch it now.

3.  Airlines functioning on-time, without cancellations.  Even three years prior to Covid....I was already preparing a plan 'B' if cancellations or delays were to occur.  I had hotels on a sheet, their numbers, and a general plan when I got 'dumped'.

4.  Star Wars.  To be honest, I've had lesser expectations since Episode 1 from May 1999.  The first three of the series were 'winners', and from 1999 on....it's been mostly crap.

5.  Saturday Night Live.  If I do force myself through an episode....I probably only laugh at 50-percent of the skits.  

6.  Republicans who say they are Republican but tend to BS-around and portray themselves as fairly marginalized Republicans.  John McCain was in that group.

7.  Truth commissions being effective.  There has never been a single effective truth commission....anywhere....over the past thousand years.

8.  Do-gooders accomplishing anything worthwhile.  Doesn't matter if it's a charity or some private group....after you evaluate the cost and end-result, most of these are worthless.

9.  Colleges producing people capable of critical thinking.  If you spent $75k over four years and can't show any talent at critical thinking.....you might as well have prepared the resume for a shift-supervisor job at McDonalds.

10.  Reality TV actually being 'real'.  After viewing a number of episodes of the 'Amish Mafia'....I eventually came to the conclusion that those folks weren't Amish enough, or the whole thing was faked-up.  But this brought me back to a dozen other reality TV shows, and how fake they were.  

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?