Cult-Like Behavior (Even If It's Not A Religion)

 Ten examples of you are standing in a cult....even if it's not designed as a religion:

1.  There just can't be any skepticism.  You can't have open discussions or open debate, because skepticism might erupt and then the fantasy comes to an end.

2.  If someone within your group says some words to indicate they may have 'fallen-out'....then you are led by your group to dump upon the friend.  They can't be a 'friend' anymore.

3.  There's always a border between your 'world' and the 'other' world.

4.  Shame-up, and shame-down.  Your cult keeps you focused to avoid being shamed.

5.  There's always a different moral standing for your group.  You get a explanation that never makes sense.

6.  Your group continually works on getting you to identify as something.

7.  Being rational....isn't a priority.  Being irrational seems to get you 'points'.

8.  Money/funding....is always a focus.

9.  Polarization always seems to be a daily focus.

10.  Indoctrination seems to be a regular thing. 

Oddly enough....politics seems to be almost a cult-like state now.

Three Humble Observations

 First, all this theatrical stuff with the Epstein documents being 'held'....just seems like Trump is begging for judges to go against him, and force release.

Odds here?  Probably some blackmail chatter....involving both Hillary and Bill Clinton....with them using their foundation as a money-laundering vehicle.  There's no way a judge can read all of the papers, and he'll accidentally screw over both Bill and Hillary by the release.  Just my humble belief.

Second,   I am rather shocked.....a new report by a former NY Police Department executive shows that more cops doesn't necessarily equal a safer landscape for the general public.

Third, if you live in a shit-hole metropolis....not desiring to exit, it's your call.  Don't go and whine about it.   

Movie Review: Tenet

 Past week, I attempted to watch Tenet.

Basic story?  Some bad guy has acquired a time-travel gadget, and is arranging things to fit his desires.  A future group of folks have arrived to recruit some guy....to be on the team to counter the bad guy, and the whole movie revolves around arranging or un-arranging some event.

Yeah, it was complicated, and marginally getting a story across.  It's one of those movies that you'd have to watch six to eight times to get the whole idea across.

My recommendation?  If nothing much on, and your wife isn't around....watch it.  Don't watch it with a German in the room because it'll be too complicated to explain.

What To Do With The District Of Columbia?

 I spent 3.5 years living in the DC area, and walked around a good portion of it (the safe and unsafe areas).  So as Trump is discussing a change....just my ideas:

1.  Take the whole SE corner (south/east of the river) and call up Maryland....telling them to 'make-a-deal'.  Hand it over....yes, the ballpark, and Joint-Base.  

2.  Repeat the same with the NW corner (the upper one-third of DC)....the Georgetown area.

3.  Put the remaining part under a partnership.....a commissioner for security and a mayor/4-person council   under the remaining pieces.  Put the commissioner under a 3-year contract...to be renewed one single time....nominated by the President and approved only by the House (not the Senate).

4.   Establish one federal judge for the remainder...same deal....one single 3-year period, and renewed one single time.  If you committed a crime in DC....you would only appear in this court.

5.  Finally, juveniles noted for crime.....are not given any 'free-passes'.

The Six Attorney General's Subpoenaed

 These six were issued subpoenas for depositions related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation (date to appear listed):

William Barr (Former U.S. Attorney General): August 18, 2025

Alberto Gonzales (Former U.S. Attorney General): August 26, 2025

Jeff Sessions (Former U.S. Attorney General): August 28, 2025

Robert Mueller (Former FBI Director and Special Counsel): September 2, 2025

Loretta Lynch (Former U.S. Attorney General): September 9, 2025

Eric Holder (Former U.S. Attorney General): September 30, 2025

There are two questions here....who will only say 'the fifth' and avoid talking, and then the question will come up about them having campaign donations.

I think Holder, Lynch and Gonzales will 'talk'....with the three indicating 'no'....they've never been to the island or met with Epstein.

Sessions?  Somewhere in the questions....they will ask about campaign donations, and he'll try to skip the question....maybe saying he doesn't remember.  I'm guessing down the line....he got a check or two, and probably doesn't remember  much of anything. 

Mueller?  He's got dementia, and probably won't show.

Then you have Barr....who will not provide any info and claim the 5th on every question (my belief).

All of this leading to something?  Well....you have Bill and Hillary, and their subpoena situation will make things complicated.  How much Epstein gave to Hillary's senate campaigns or the 2016 race?  It might amount to several million.  In the end....both will  avoid prison (on things connected to Epstein), but find themselves locked out of interviews and public appearances.

If you are carrying around Trump score-card....you can say this wraps up 'revenge' upon the Clintons, and then leaves Biden and Obama for another day. 

Footnote: Mueller was having early dementia probably even in the spring of 2019...as he prepared for the July 2019 House hearing on his Trump investigation.  You can review video from the five hours of 'talk'.  He's showing problems, and was clearly not focused.  He's probably been on a decline since summer of 2018.  

The Rise, The Peak, And The Decline Of Pizza Hut

 I watched a business piece this week....the financial losses of Pizza Hut (around $5.7-billion).

Around spring  of 1980....I visited my first Pizza Hut (Tacoma, Washington).  I was mostly sold on their pizza.

Over the next 15 years....I probably visited Pizza Hut around forty times a year.  Even upon arriving at Ramstein....I still went to the local Pizza Hut operation at least ten times a year.

If you asked me about the decline?  I would have said between 2000 and 2005....it was obvious that they had too many competitors, and there were too many fast-food chains to survive. Even today, if you ask me....between Papa Johns, Dominos, and Pizza Hut....P-H comes up in 3rd place on quality.  It's not bad pizza.....just that others do better.

Will Pizza Hut dissolve into nothing?  I'm of the mind that eating out 'costs' are killing the middle-class, and that everyone is slipping to a schedule.....probably to limit eating-out to once or twice a month, and the budget line now matters. Pizza Hut will downsize...probably to the level they were back in the mid-1980s. 

The competitors?  They are suffering in various ways as well.  

It's not the end of the world, but it's going to be a different landscape, where a number of buildings are empty and of no use to rent.  

Seven Humble Thoughts

 1.  Chicago mayor Johnson gave a talk yesterday....more or less...admitting that the budget has reached a new stage, where massive new taxes have to occur....to keep the city running.

Yeah, it's a wake-up for commercial operations, and businesses in the city...you should start planning some exit.  They've 'Detroited' themselves into a pit where there's no exit possible.

2.  Each week that goes by now in California....folks seem to be asking where all the extra 'loot' (money) for Governor Newsom's lifestyle/home came from.  Yesterday, some folks started to discuss the idea that the Governor's wife....has to  be in money-laundering type of position....for this all to work as it does. 

Who leads this (if it is  money-laundering)? Well.....no one says that part.  Makes you wonder if the Chinese have some input.

3.  If you notice, while watching CNN (with Scott Jennings)....they (the camera folks) do everything possible to have Scott silently sitting while the 'dimwit-lefty' speaks, and Scott does his crossed-arms piece, and you know....he's about to blast the 'dimwit-lefty'.  Five-star TV.

4.  All these Texas Democrats who left the state...hiding in Illinois....apparently had some ACT-BLUE donations to cover cost.  Well.....someone dug into it.....it shows mostly all of this to be folks with P O boxes.  So this has drawn attention....are they real people? 

If not?  Who were they?  And if this was a fraud donation....will the state AG go after the money to be paid back?   (Figure $5k to $10k each).

5.  The map here is Republican (red) versus Democrat (blue) majority....county-by-county.

Someone summed up an idea that if you have a light-blue area....it's probably a higher chance of being more dead-voters and illegal-voters.

No evidence to support this, but it makes you wonder....would  someone go and rig up a fake population.

6.  2008....Jeffrey Epstein was a informant for the FBI....confirmed yesterday. How did this come to happen?  No one says.  Bush-era.  I suspect if you ask enough....you will find that he was a informant for the Brits, the French, the Israelis, and a dozen others....as well.

7.  In case you didn't notice....the Russian Central Bank raised the 'key-interest-rate' to 21-percent.  As bad as you might think things are in the US.....in Russia....it's ten times worse.