Three Observations

 1.  Why the Nashville shooter's manifesto has not been released by the FBI?

I have this theory.  I think it's roughly a 30-to-40 page piece....easily read in 90 minutes, and mostly displays a unhinged person with tremendous hatred for a lot of people.  Blame....dished out in great portions.  Somewhere at the end, the suggested thought is that only by killing a bunch of people....can you accomplish 'change'.

Yeah, it's the kinda stuff that Charles Manson inspired as well. 

In the FBI's belief (my humble thoughts).....it just doesn't make any sense to let this go public. 

2.  What really happened in Dadeville, Alabama, with the shooting?

I think a drug distribution group heard of the party being organized and at some point showed up....thinking they could pump up sales.  They were told to leave by the locals....they returned to teach a 'lesson'.....while duped-up enough....not to grasp the damage that was going to be done.  

Treating the 16-year olds as adults?  It's state law.  

3.  Major US military evacuation starting up in the Sudan?  

Yeah, and it's another test of the Biden camp....if they can plan and carry out such an operation.

That Pentagon UFO Report

 What I see?  You can watch it ten times like I did.  

I see a object that is probably no more than 30 ft above the ground and about the size of a dishwasher.  Speed?  I'm guessing 25-to-35 mph...max (maybe less).

Anything within the Pentagon like this?  No.  Russians?  I'm mostly saying no.  Chinese?  I'm not sure about.

Collecting data?  If it lingered, then I'd say it was collecting phone/radio data.  Photographic summary?  You'd have it at 10,000 feet.

Alien?  Well....no one can be sure.

Just running around a war zone...for alien data collection?  For what?  Doesn't make sense.

Worth viewing.

Four Observations

 1.  Out of the 35-odd school teachers I had (rural Alabama)....for the most part, other than their first and last names....I knew nothing about them.  

Oh, I knew the husband of one....they attended the same church.  I knew the vehicles that two of them drove...because of their constant criticism of the car.  I knew of the summer travels (adventures) of one.  

So all this chatter over 300 facts that kids seem to lecture people on....how they know their teacher or connect to the guy/gal....seems to me to be odd.

2.  Intense amount of chatter today....that President Biden will announce his re-election campaign next week.  BS-factor?  I'd give it a '3'.  

In a non-Covid era....does he have the energy to actually campaign for 100 days straight?  I just don't see that being possible....he might deliver 3 trips a week.

3.  I sat and watched some podcast were the 'crew' kept referring to 21-year olds....as 'boys'.  Frankly, once you get past 16....you ought to 'lose' the boys 'ranking'.

4.  If Hunter Bien was convicted on some tax issue and sent off for 6 months of prison....is it the end of the world?  

70-Percent Versus 30-Percent

 I was watching CNBC today....piece came up....polling data: 70% of Americans are feeling financially stressed.  

How they defined 'stressed'?  That was not clear.

Back around Christmas....I noticed a commentary by someone (older guy) who'd taken some gal to the movies.  I got the impression that he hadn't been out in several years and he was rather shocked that it was in the $30 range for tickets and popcorn/soda.

It's almost daily that I'll read some comment where someone had to replace something (like a refrigerator or washer) and shocked at the price-tag and the delivery fee.  

But the other side of this....30-percent of people aren't financially stressed.  That's a fair sum of people.  

$25,000 in a New York Minute

 The mayor of NY City has loosen up city funds and said....if you own a apartment rental unit, and will agree to lease it to special situations which the city registers low income individuals for....the city will give you $25,000 for renovation.

I sat there a minute pondering this.

Knowing the general cost of renovation in DC/NYC....just to have a electrician to come out and update your fuse box (new one) and have it certified as 'safe' (with new cabling/plugs)....that would drain the $25,000 in roughly 8 hours.  

I can think of twenty-odd renovation jobs....in that particular area....that would each run $15k to $25k. 

This idea that the mayor is doing a 'favor'?  I'd ask about who these people are....getting the special card/status.  

Is High School Tougher Today Than Forty Years Ago?

 I've tried to imagine how a person makes this statement....suggesting that 'old' people had it easy, and that education (particularly high school) has gotten more complicated.

The trouble here...the excuse is used for anyone who is 30ish, 40ish, 50ish, 60ish, 70ish, 80ish and even 90ish..

I might agree that more unqualified or unskilled or unfit teachers exist today.....so you might have a point there.  But then I could point out that half of teachers from the 1970s era....probably had a year or two of some 'teachers college'.  

The books more complicated?  You would think they would have gotten better.  I felt lucky in the 11th grade (1975) to have a 1959 literature book for English classes.

More information?  Well....they have added forty-odd years since 1980....that's probably taking up a whole week of history class.  Just talking over President Obama?  That's probably a week by itself as well.

After a while....my sarcasm rate increases, and I double-up on my skeptical nature.  No....it's not possible that school is any tougher today.  Maybe if you existed in 1920s Arkansas and walked 3 miles to school....you might have a reason that things got easier when buses were introduced.  

The problem here...is that some idiots have convinced themselves....school is more difficult today.  Call it self-hypnosis or whatever....they seem to believe it.  

And here's the bitter truth....in ten years....as these people advance to old age (28)....the next generation will these dimwits that the newer generation of school is even tougher than it was in 2023.  

Iowa

 There are a number of things I learned yesterday.

So at the top....the Iowa state Senate passed a juvenile labor law today that say a 14-year-old kid can work a 6-hour night shift (typically meaning up to midnight), that 15-year-olds can work on assembly lines, and that 16- and 17-year-olds could serve alcohol.  

Why?  It's an interesting thing....the state unemployment rate is near 3-percent.  If you go to Iowa-City....it's near 2.2-percent.  Des Moines?  It's just over 3-percent.  From agricultural operations, to local bars, and onto assembly plants....they are running out of manpower.  

Part of this issue is the rural nature of Iowa, and the other is the continuing crisis where a fair number of men have given up looking/working.  

The bill has yet to reach the House, and the Governor would still have to sign it.  Odds?  I'd give it 50-50 to passing fully.

So I went out into the Twitter area, and found a whole bunch of folks who were negative about this.  

It down to five criticisms: (1) no child should work, period....(2) kids will be losing fingers.....(3) abuse of kids by offering them only minimum wage....(4) farm work is too tough for kids....(5) no one should be around alcohol at such an early age.

Yeah, it was pretty weak criticisms.  

I also learned that if you tried to enter into these discussions....they immediately wanted to know your age group, and that anyone over 50....was not 'smart' on the problems.  

I also was told that education is much harder today (2023) than it was in 1973.  I tried to ask how, and was just told 'it is'. 

Poor communication skills?  Well....quickly you can figure out that you were dealing with 20-year old 'kids' who had a 5th grade mentality.  Almost none of them lived in Iowa or understood the rural nature of the state.

My humble feeling?  

First....on allowing 16/17 year olds to serve?  Most of the pubs around Iowa are 'mom-and-pop' bars....catering to around 40 to a hundred people in an evening.  These aren't wild biker bars....it's just the only outlet in a town of 500....where you can buy a beer.  You end up with a owner who probably works a full-time job in the daytime, and in this scenario....you'd have two part-time teenagers to rack/stack beer.

Second, on 15-years old in an assembly line situation?  Iowa doesn't exactly have a huge industry for assembly situations.  

Radically changing things?  No.