Looking Back: This Biden Cancer Topic

 As we advance today on knowing Joe Biden is in stage four of prostate cancer....there's probably forty question...NONE of which will ever be answered.

So, who knew?  Unknown....probably Jill, Hunter, and maybe three or four of the top insiders.

Since when?  Well....you can get a good five years if found in stage 1 and treatment occurs.  In decent health....you can stretch five years into seven to ten years.  I'm guessing here, but he probably knew somewhere between 2016 and 2019....with treatment starting up (hence the disappearing act in early 2020).

Did he have the energy for the job?   Hell no....but that's just part of the whole 'comedy' at this point.

Is it possible that this is a fake story, and he really has dementia instead?  As crazy as it sounds....you might give this idea some potential talk.

And the nuke codes....in the hands of a guy who really couldn't be fully focused?  Yeah.

The idea of running....in 2024, and dying  in office in 2025....giving Kamala the job?  This is a likely idea to play out now and wonder about.

Did the news people know about this situation and just refuse to discuss?  Well....that's likely to be true.  So it'll anger a few folks....just thinking over the idea.

Final word?  This will be discussed for the next fifty years.....how the secret lasted and no one asked questions.

The New Majority Minority?

 It has not really unfolded enough yet for Americans to grasp....but the Hispanic population is now figured (with all of the Biden illegals)...to be up around 66-million across the US.

The black population, who were the big-minority or almost all of the previous history in America?  Near 48-million.

To  sum the scene up.....the 'old' Hispanics mixed with the 'new' Hispanics....now have political  power to play out....with different priorities. 

At some point...a split here in the Democratic Party will occur, with the party unable to play at the same 'poker-table'....with both ethnic groups.

Hostility brewing?  I would suggest that within a decade....these two groups will be unable to work together politically within the Democratic Party. It'll be a remarkable split....with things in turmoil.  

Starbucks and The New Dress Code

 There are appears to be a barista rebellion going on...since Starbucks started a new dress code.

So I was curious....how this worked.  First....it's ONLY for North American shops.  Why?   Unknown.

Rules?  You have to wear solid black short or long-sleeved tops (crewneck, collared, or button-up) and bottoms in khaki, black, or blue denim. 

This rule didn't really bother me....of course, I might be stuck on red-shirts, or green-shirts.

Then the policy emphasized the iconic green apron.

On the positive side....Starbucks provides two free company-branded black t-shirts to employees. 

Then came the harsh rule....ONLY one facial piercing, no larger than a dime, is allowed, and shoes must be closed-toe with flat heels (no flip-flops or barefeet).

I paused over this. Back around 2019....I was in NY City for a week.....stopping briefly at Starbucks on two occasions....with young ladies who had at least a dozen facial piercings.  It was enough that I knew I was staring, and had to force myself to gaze away.  In one case....she had some tongue piercing....where her accent and language ability made it for a problem for me to understand her.  I hated to seem confused but this slurring of words was a stupid problem.

People staging strikes over the rules?  Yeah.

Resolving this?  Well....I guess just let the folks go, and find a new and better job.

Two Predictions

 1.  The prosecution (fed-level) will do such a crappy case on Diddy....that  he's declared innocent, and they can ever go back to prosecute again.  Public  anger?  It will be openly discussed for twenty years....how Biden's crew screwed up.  Some will say a cash-payout.

2.  NY AG James will be dragged into a grand jury....sent onto a court,  and end up getting a deal....where she resigns from her office....pays around $500k in fines and cost, and agrees to surrender her law license.  Within two years....she will run for office of some type.

The Unblocked Way Of Finishing School Without Math Or English Skills

 Somewhere along the 7th grade for me....I had this 'vision' of four groups in my class....one being IQ-levels of 70-to-89, who aren't that bright.....one being pretty average or better IQ folks (90 to 115)....one being rocket-science smart....and one being kids bored out of their mind (the type that should be stocking shelves or shoveling asphalt).  

Two of these groups....probably never advanced much after the 8th grade, and it was a waste of time or resources to think  otherwise.

I don't seem shocked over how various PhD folks came to recognize that a bunch of 18-year old kids are tested, and they seem (at best) to read at the 5th to 7th grade  level or unable to handle 90-percent of math skills.

If you'd done serious testing in 1969 or 1977....you would have figured out the poor skills situation.

What does bother me....we seem to want the low-IQ folks to 'march' on and get into college....lessening entry requirements and dumbing down college enough....to graduate dumbasses with fake degrees, and in some cases...attempting  to be dumbass teachers, or dumbass politicians, or dumbass Senators/Presidents.

Getting people to admit this 'crisis'?  That's the chief problem we should focus upon.

The $30 Chat

 The Los Angeles City Council voted yesterday....12–3 vote to raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30 per hour by 2028.

I pondered over this.

Basically, these are jobs were you could be non-school graduates or barely out of high school. 

It would bring you to a $4,800 minimum monthly salary by 2030. 

However, if you figure in state taxes, fed taxes, health insurance, and social security....taking out the deductions....you'd go home with maybe $2,000 a month.

A one-bedroom place?  Within the city limits.....it's a minimum of $2,000 a month.

On one hand.....you are pricing a $100 hotel room (almost impossible to find these days)  at $150, and airline tickets would have to escalate by $30 minimum....making tourism a  tricky business. On the other hand, staying in LA....makes no sense....even if you were a low IQ guy working at the airport....making $30 an hour.

My guess  at 2040 rates (just 15 years away)?  We will be paying burger-flippers near $60 an hour....for a burger-menu lunch that costs $38, while living in a rental unit that costs $3,000 for ghetto-like 1-bedroom apartment.

Me and No-Go Situations

 In the  late 1970s....I didn't have an issue walking around Frankfurt, Amsterdam, or Tacoma (Washington) at 10 PM.  The concept of no-go (where you admit there's potential stupidity for violence or death) didn't even occur to me. 

I probably made it to the 2004-to-2008 period....where I started to notice certain little things.  There would be people 'zonked-out' on drugs....streets trashed-up....people starting to talk about no-go in a strategic way (how to walk around this part of town).

By 2010...with my three-year period in DC....I got various impressions to be vigilante and plan trips/walks.  I wanted to go over to Baltimore, and after asking a co-worker who knew the city....about where to venture....he gave me this map of downtown Baltimore....using a red-pen....he crossed off approximately two-thirds of the city map....saying it's best you don't go here.

My local town of Wiesbaden?  Ten years ago...it existed without a no-go area.  Today?  We have a 'Waffenverbotszone'.....it's a zone where after 7 PM...cops are free to stop you....force an ID-check, and frisk you (got a knife....it could be several thousand Euro in a fine).  

You want drugs....I can pinpoint  three areas of Wiesbaden where you can  get  anything you desire. 

The act of putting drugs, crazy-violent behavior and public safety into a mix?  You go to a logical mindset....always looking over your shoulder and asking....what's the max threat you can accept?

The old stomping grounds of Tacoma and Seattle?  If you ask locals in Tacoma....they will rattle off North End, South Tacoma, Hilltop, Central Tacoma, Eastside, and Northeast Tacoma...as places to generally avoid after dark.

Seattle?  They now have two phrases often used....safe areas (meaning a serious police presence) or no-go (where there's a active drug scene). The Belltown area?  Day or night....it's suggested to just avoid this area.

New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Birmingham, Memphis, St Louis.....they all have no-go areas. If you ask why....the answer always revolves  around drugs, gang action, addicts on the loose,  and crazies looking for a 'friend'.

Just a US thing?  No.

There are various parts of Hamburg, Koln, Berlin, Frankfurt, or Dresden....that I'd suggest asking for local advice on safe places/no-go areas.   There's one entire city park in Berlin....that I'd tell you to avoid....day or night.

Authorities just letting this go?  That's the million-dollar question....just how much are you willing to spend....to impress upon people....no-go activity is unacceptable?

The landscape ahead?  Just odd....where you see 'Escape From New York' as a true story....where you are skeptical of law-and-order.