Guatemala Story

 I was reading over a stoy of the Attorney General of Guatemala....who is in some type of investigation over child-trafficking of kids there.....into the US.  Nothing is really clear.

But in the middle of the story....they got onto this odd subject.  The US gov't....never saying which department did this....shuffled around $125,000 into Guatemala to pay for the services of Shaman/Healers.

Shaman/Healers?  

In certain remote areas of Honduras, Guatemala and so on....it comes out of the past with the Mayan, Aztec and Inca folks.

They typically would have a ceremony....have some smoke in the air....drink some herbal tea (possibly laced with some stuff to make you dopey), and by the end of the 'show'.....you felt 'right'.

So the question is....how did the tax money ($125k) find it's way into this mess, who approved this idea, and where exactly does it fit into child-trafficking?

You can read the story here.

On my weird index....yeah, it's a solid ten.

Eight Things

 1.  On economic plus-ups to President Biden....he is totally disconnected to plain working-class Americans.  It's hard to imagine this is an election year, and things are so screwed-up....that he can't sell his brand or message.

2  You probably didn't hear, but DoJ is talking to the court over the hammer-dude who went at Paul Pelosi (Nancy's husband), and wanting him to serve 40 years.  

3.  McDonalds says it's going to market a $5-meal.  I would imagine it'll be the 99-cent hamburger with 2 patties, small fries, and small drink.  Over past three years....if I've been at a McDonalds....haven't been able to for less than $12.

4.  If I were a university with 'campers' (people with tents).....I'd respond....sure, you can camp, for a daily fee of $39 (per person). If you can't pay.....I'd ask the police to pick each person up....jail them until they pay the $39.

5.   Something I expect in 2025.....some college 'group' comes up....admitting they read Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' and readily support his Nazi strategy.  

6.  It just kinda hit this past week....Joe Biden himself.....is doing everything possible to screw up the election and the spiral on negativity is currently a big deal.  The economy?  If  he'd brought some special team in early 2023 and said...get this all fixed up, then he'd be out to win the election.  

7.  If someone utters that he's an expert....he's got about 90 seconds to prove his point, or be condemned as an idiot.  Funny how this has developed.

8.  Germany's idea from 20 years ago to dump the draft?  Basically today....deemed almost a failure, and there's talk that the volunteer deal is about to be dumped.

Crazy Talk

 I saw this graphic chart this AM....crazy-people population in state psychiatric hospitals in the US....1950 to 2010.

So my question is this....if the incoming crowd were released....where did they 'really' go?  Out in public, or in prisons?

Did lessening the resident situation really fix anything over a 60-year period?

And the one odd factor....up until 1960, we were still on a upward trend.  Where would the 'mark' be today....if the clinics been kept open?

Heat Story

 Someone brought this up today....actually published around mid-October of 2023.

I sat and pondered over it.  

To be honest, if you had ventured from the Carolinas back in 1825....out to Illinois/Indiana....as a settler, after a single year of living in mid-America, you probably would have said things are way too hot, and way too cold....to live there.

Then as you moved to Colorado in the 1870....you probably said the same thing.

Upon moving to Arizona (Tombstone) in 1900....you would have said the same thing.

If any of this warning BS were true....you'd see scientists at the various universities in mid-America....packing up and trying to get to Oregon or Maine....to survive.  

Yet, you see no one really acting worried.

Money Chatter

 I've spent a fair amount of time looking this graphic chart.

I'm mostly in disagreement about the results.  

First, what exactly does 'live comfortably' mean?  I think in Idaho...I could live pretty well on $50,000 a year (as long as I didn't have a monthly mortgage payment of $1,200).  

A family needing $257,000 in Oregon?  Are mom and dad driving a Mercedes each?

This brings to a WaPo story from around 2011....DC/Arlington couple (both in early 50s).....pulling in around $270,000 a year combined, and living paycheck-to-paycheck....unable to really explain how they spent their way through a month.  

There's something wrong here....but I can't really put my finger on it.

AI Story

 I sat and watched an interview with Bumble founder.....Whitney Wolfe Herd....who got into a talk about the future of dating.

So her idea is that Artifical Intelligence (AI) is very shortly reaching a stage where you would talk to your AI-date-handler, and it would have reviewed 'options' (say 100,000 people)....to recommend 'winners'.

How many questions would have to be asked and measured?  She doesn't say, but I would imagine this is a four-hour interview to reach 1,000 conclusions about your expectations.

If you say it has to be a gal who cooks....knows something about timing belts, is at least 35 years old, and drinks beer from the can.....it might only list four people from the entire state.....then mention that two of the ladies are in the state prison.

To me, the question comes up....would you trust the AI to find the dream-person?

Then you come to the obvious....what if people lied about the 1,000 answers they gave to the AI?

How many filters would a 45-year old guy establish?  Five?  Twelve?  Forty?  

I paused over this...just on myself?  I might have twenty hard NO-GO filters established.  I wouldn't want a cult-gal....someone who constantly wants to walk on beaches...a paranoid schizophrenic....a Amazon-shaped gal who was a former wrestler....someone with ten weird tattoos.....or a Vega-gal.  Environmentalist?  No.  Two-pack a day smoker?  No.  

I would imagine these AI folks would eventually come around and tell you in a blunt way.....you made it too difficult....there ain't anyone that weird to fit your profile.

Economics Chatter

 I saw this today on social media. Burger King pricing going up.

The thing that might bother people?  Well....how would summer of 2025 look?  A whopper being up around $8.50?  Fries being near $4.40?  

This is the problem with the inflation scale....you just don't have a slowing down affect within your line of sight.

Sticker-shock in 18 months....where you walk into a BK...finding the Double-Whopper menu....at $30 for one person?  

Same trend for pizza?  Where you might find a normal $15 2019-pizza....going for $22 today, and in the fall of 2025....maybe $30?