My 2023/2024 Presidential Script

 This is how I see the 2023 campaign season opening, and how the 2024 'show' unfolding:

1.  I will project around a dozen Democrats showing up in June of 2023 to an early debate schedule.  President Biden will not be there, declining to run in 2024.  Top three in this early showing....Governor Newsom of California, Pete Buttigieg, and AOC.  Now of the three will excite folks in Iowa (in case you were wondering).  

2.  I will project that Trump will not run, but he will appear in several states to campaign for certain candidates.  

3.  Republicans in the mid-summer of 2023 that are running?  DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Tim Scott, and Nikki Haley.  No, Mike Pence won't be showing up.  The way that Iowa will shape up....DeSantis wins.  

4.  From the end of January of 2024 on....it's strictly a race between Newsom and DeSantis.  

5.  Convention 2024?  Newsom selects Buttigieg as VP candidate.  DeSantis selects Richard Grenell.  Yes, both VPs will be gay guys....go figure the campaign logic to this.

6.  Debates?  Zero between the two groups.  It's more or less a public agreement that the debates were always biased in some way.  The news media will hype this to the max, but no one cares.

7.  Buttigieg's value to the campaign?  Almost zero.  Grenell can talk international politics and has five-star value at table talks.  

8.  This becomes by mid-October....mostly an assessment about how Florida did over the past three years, and how crappy California did with Newsom in charge.  Some ad will appear with ten people noting how they left California because it failed as a modern society and state.  By late October, even the news media will admit that Newsom was the wrong guy to run at this point.

9.  DeSantis wins the election, and immediately tells the Republican Party that he will select his own people....noting how bad advice filtered into Trump's camp, and he won't repeat that mistake.  

10.  Immediately upon becoming President....another Russia-Gate episode starts up.  This time however, DeSantis throws out a hint....he's reorganizing the FBI....basically breaking them up into five minor units, and most all of the members are being given 'pack-up' orders to leave DC.  All the stuff that Trump talked about doing?  DeSantis is going to place at the front of the list...to get done.  

What Podcasters Really Did Accomplish

 Up to the 1990s...TV and radio news networks were able to convey news and discussion over public agenda items.  Then, as social media came along....something unusual happened.  Podcasts started to replace the TV/radio news networks.  

In a normal week, I will preview at least fifty different podcasts....some just five minutes in nature....some going two full hours (like the Joe Rogan episodes).

I'll sometimes watch Dr Todd Grande take apart people and explain how sane or insane they are.

I'll watch the 'Amazing Lucas' review something with a tough black prospective.

I'll watch the '1420' podcasts where Russians are asked questions on the street.

I'll watch 'darkhorse' explain complicated science topics in simple talk.

I'll watch 'ancient architects' explain archeological discoveries. 

I'll watch Peter Boghossian detail the way to discuss topics with uncivil people.

I'll watch Lex Friedman drill down into serious science topics and provide enlightenment over the vast universe.

I'll watch 'A Word on Westerns' which covers all the cowboy movies of the past decades.

I'll watch Doctor John Campbell explain medicine to the 9th degree.

I'll watch 'serpentza' discuss China....both the good and bad.

I'll watch 'We got a problem' to explain the UK problems.

I'll watch 'Triggernometry' with two comedians taking fairly serious topics.

I'll watch 'Real coffee with Scott Adams' to get the insider view of the world.

In simple terms....podcasts have picked up the slack that the news media left on the floor, and fulfills the 'emptiness'.  

Five Things

 1.  Did President Biden say that inflation is a plus-up when hitting families, because it helps to accomplish the liberal agenda?

Yeah.  Among the top ten illogical things he's said in the past eighteen months.....it's definitely on the list.  

Here's the odd thing....if you corner an economist (graduate degree and all)....no one will admit in public that it's a positive thing or that it helps some agenda.  Most will say that recessions and inflation can easily trigger political chaos and bring down a government.  

2.   Some study came out and said that the Biden Administration did save jobs. Cost for each job saved?  $850,000.  Personally speaking....if I were working and you offered me an incentive to retire early....$850,000 would be enough.  

3.  Hillary Clinton came out and offered some advice to Democrats.....she said....'drop the agenda' business, and get back to basic traditional issues.  Probably the legit and smart statement she's made in the past five years.

4.  Is the Macron presidency wrapped up for failure....even though he just won his second election around a month ago?

Well....this past weekend, the legislative election wrapped up.  From the opposition left, and the far right....there are enough votes in the French 'House' to block any Macron agenda item.  So in effect....he's got five years ahead where nothing much will happen unless he bends either to the left, or to the far right.

5.  The House holds around 14,000 hours of video from J6....with none of it accessible to normal Americans.  In effect, it's been classified.  If you asked the logic of this....people generally just grin.

The Blood Donor Story

 So in the UK, they were holding a blood donation episode.  Guy (68) shows up....has donated a number of times in his life.  Blood donation folks have paperwork to wrap up.  So they come to this question....new item since the last time he donated: "Are you pregnant, or have you been in the last six months?".  It was a yes or no question.

Guy looked at the person doing this, and just verbally responded that he was a guy.....well...it didn't matter, they still wanted the yes or no checked.  

He responded it's not a yes or no....he can't be pregnant.

In the end, they turned down the guy.  He didn't donate blood.

I pondered over the story. 

They just wanted a line on a form....fixed to yes/no.  To him, it was obvious....if a guy, you can't be pregnant.  

After a while, I thought...well, why not just say 'yes'.....I've been pregnant as a guy.  The paperwork fellow would have then read the notation, and logically....he would have asked another question.

I would have stopped him and simply said that I conceived a child without any sperm involved, and delivered the child on the 25th of December.  

You know where this is going. 

Would they have still accepted the blood?  Far as I know....nutcases are not prevented from donating (at least not yet).  

So, when you see this question in the future....either at the dentist office or with Nurse Wanda at your clinic.....just be honest....you did conceive without any male help, and you delivered last December.  See how far the game goes.

The Thing About Team-Building Exercises

 I was fortunate to progress through the Air Force in the 80s/90s, and marginally saw the team-building business introduced (at the very end).  

My original view, as these were introduced....we had teams built and functional already, and it seemed like the people running this agenda....wanted people to talk to each other on a first name basis....drift over to group-think....and have new plans/paths introduced on a regular basis (this meant if X didn't work, you went to Y, and if Y didn't work, you went to Z).

In the eleven years as a contractor....we had a couple of attempts to run team-building, and most failed miserably.  

I brought this topic up one day with a guy who'd spent around four years at some major industry (mid-2000s).  It'd reached a point where the team-building stuff was so crapped out....that his HR gave up local efforts, and started to bring national team-builders (they'd fly the guy out for a whole week).  The problem here....the national guy had no clear understanding of the organization, its service, or it's customers.  

Are we that bad off....to require team-building?  I think the more likely path here is that we are in the midst of a boss-obstruction.  We have people given management roles....who are simply lacking in skills to perform at this level.  You can blame the college system, or the HR involvement in recruitment for this 'weakness'.

You would think for a master's degree or PhD, in some type of management or leadership area....you'd have gifted instructors for the 'art'.  I simply don't believe they exist to the degree that was around in the 1970s/1980s.  

Shouldn't boards be 'gifted' enough to shape a CEO to the degree required?  Well....we got to the point of bringing in idiots to boards (like that Hunter 'kid') and boards are mostly today useless.

So to make up for the problem....we shape team-building to show that if they think in x-way.....the product or service will be successful.  

I'm not calling team-building as a BS tool....but you are supposed to think/react in a certain way at the end.

On how to handle team-building...if you get forced into it?  Simply play along.....smile, and accept the fact that they can't fix the boss problem.  

(On my most favorite team-building event participation?  My boss took the entire shop to a horse-track and instructed us on betting.  It actually was a great afternoon, but had nothing to do with work.)  

Chatter

 I noticed this odd story.....NBC News was out in Nevada....doing people-chats for primary business.

Around 2-dozen people interviewed.....more urbanized counties (not the rural areas).

So the question came up....did the DC J6 hearings affect you?

Vast majority answered 'no'.....then some of them went to a second comment....that the J6 hearings actually converted them to be more anti-Democrat.  

From what I've watched of the J6 hearings (bits and pieces).....if you wanted some resemblance to Watergate/Iran-Contra.....it was not there.  

I'm not saying it's 1-star pony show.....but whatever mileage they felt they'd get....was a zero-gain.  I'd also suggest that maybe two more shows will be enough for the Democratic leadership to suggest a halt.  

2024 GOP?

 The Hill wrote up a piece and suggested the seven front-line Republicans for President in 2024:

1.  Mike Pence (zero percent chance, and I can't understand their logic).

2.  Ted Cruz (has to really take off and win in Iowa.....where I give him only a 10-percent chance).

3.  Nikki Haley (might take three states in the primary....not enough to matter, but she wants VP badly).

4.  Mike Pompeo.  Smart and witty but zero appeal in the 'big-tent'.  Oddly, he could gather attention in Iowa.

5.  Tim Scott.  Weak but would draw VP attention.

6.  Kristi Noem (SD Governor).  Great VP nominee and probably would draw attention in the first four primaries.

7.  Ron DeSantis (FL Governor).  As long as Trump doesn't run....DeSantis is likely to take 45 of the primary wins.

So this is really a race about the VP?  Yeah.

I'd say that Tim Scott, Noem, and Haley are in the competition mode now.  

Fourth name for VP?  Richard Grenell.  

Pompeo likely to come back again as Secretary of State?  I'd give it a 90-percent chance.