Trigger Words For Me

These are trigger words for me.....which you might utter, and I'll stop the conversation and ask stupid questions:

Free, nothing is really free....so I'll regard your talk as BS.

Now, NOW is really now, but if I question you and it was not NOW....then I'll correct.

Exclusive, typically I hear it  at a store, and immediately regard it as BS.

Limited, sales guy chatter....usually BS.

Urgent, usually uttered by Air Force officers....meaning something that the commander said, but most of the time....BS.

New, if this is in a box....OK. But if it's in the open....I don't regard it as new.

Guaranteed, not always positive.

Proven, over-used, and usually uttered by doctors/nurses a lot.

Secret, having work in intelligence for 20 years....simply over-rated.

Instant, some folks utter this....even if it takes 10 minutes to accomplish 'instant'.

Save, 50-percent of the time.....it's truthful.....50-percent of the time, it'sfake  savings.

Discover, it usually means you did something stupid, and just accidentally found something.

Easy,  uttered on Christmas morning usually....meaning a simple-put-together item...requires four hours.

Amazing, usually uttered by a sales guy....at least six times in 10 minutes.....mostly over-used.

Breakthrough, usually meaning 12-year old kid got smart  and did something.

Risk-Free, I usually question how risk free.

Special, there are probably 300 levels of special, and half of them....aren't that special.

Unique, usually never that unique.

Hurry, another term uttered by Air Force officers....meaning you need  to drop urgent work, to do BS stuff.

Only, I usually regard it as a catch-phrase....meaning 'except'.

Bonus, refer to the fine-print....maybe it is a bonus....maybe not.

Essential, after a while....you realize 14,000 things in life are essential...so it's not that big of a deal.

Powerful, there are probably 300 levels of powerful, and it might not mean much.

Safe, used a great deal by Air Force officers....meaning safe enough that even a 7-year-old kid can't be wounded. 

Results, with a results-index....you can might be mildly excited by what people call results.

'Ballz' Story

I sat this morning....reading over this story.

 Basically....a trans-lady had to be checked out by security at JFK, and the security gal (I assume) was a bit 'rough', and hit the 'ballz' of the trans-lady.

Naturally, this hurt the trans-lady, and she started sobbing.

This event will traumatize the security lady....maybe for the rest of her life.  Maybe enough, that she can medically retire from stress.

Really, being a security person....would not be on my top 10,000 jobs now....out of fear of ballz-whacking.

Explaining A Currency Swap....Not A Bailout (The US-Argentina Deal)

Several weeks ago....it came up where Trump signed a deal involving $20-Billion with Argentina, and folks got all bothered by it.  Scott Bessent laid out the deal in simple fashion yesterday.  Looking it over....I  simplified it  as  well. 

So....imagine you and your buddy both have candy stores, but in different countries. You’re in the U.S., so you use dollars to buy your candies. Your friend is in Japan, so they use yen. One day, you both want to try selling each other’s candies in your stores, but you need the other’s money to buy them.

I should  state here....you kinda trust your buddy enough to take  this  action.

A currency swap is like a deal where you agree to trade some of your dollars for your friend’s yen, and they trade some of their yen for your dollars. You both agree to use this money for a while.  It could be six months....it could be a year....it could be 2 years.  You set  out to buy candies for your stores. You also agree to trade back the same amount of money later, so you get your dollars back, and they get their yen back.

$1,000 laid down,  and the 'end'  phase is to have  $1,000-plus.

For example:

You give your friend $100, and they give you 10,000 yen (pretend that’s equal).

You use the yen to buy Japanese candies for your U.S. store.

Your friend uses the dollars to buy American candies for their Japan store.

After a year, you trade back: you give them 10,000 yen, and they give you $100.

Sometimes, you also pay a little extra to each other, like sharing a few candies as a thank-you for the trade. This extra bit is like the “interest” grown-ups talk about.

This swap helps you both sell new candies without having to find dollars or yen somewhere else. It’s like a fair trade to help your candy stores grow.

The odds here?  You end the deal....with the same level  of money you started with and probably have 1-percent to 2-percent more.....maybe in a crazy candy market....you find 5-percent extra.

Can you lose?  Oh yeah....if your buddy was not honest, or the candy market dissolves.

15 Year or 180 Month Car Loans

 Apparently, the gov't will review the idea.

I paused here....wondering what car could possibly last that long. 

My wife's Audi TT....might. 

Anything American made?  No.

Once we got to the level of $75k for a new car....the system was broke.

The $30 Dinner Date Is Long Gone

 I watched a video tape....black gal who had been invited out (1st date) for coffee.  She declined....telling the guy a $5 coffee date won't work.  He responds....a real dinner date is now up around $100 and he's wanting more assurance that she's worth a 2nd date. She said NO.

I paused over this.   

To be honest....a first date  today....at a decent place....would run a minimum of $75. 

Going to Five Guys for a burger?  It probably won't work.   Pizza shop for $30? Nope.  Ribs shop for $40?  Nope.

Just a cocktail 'stop'?  Well....you can figure one drink each....near $25. 

Here's the outcome of this generation....with 20 to 40 year old gals.....guys will start to demand more of a assurance....to reach date number one....meaning that $5  coffee date might be your only avenue to date number two.

Working-Poor?

 I read a piece yesterday.....teacher in Philadelphia saying she has a degree, has a a mortgage, has a car payment and is on SNAP Food Stamps (never saying the amount but would guess $400 minimum).

So she used the term 'working-poor'. 

As I grew up in rural Alabama in the 1970s...you usually associated this  'class' of pay-scale to the guys who worked at the local lumber-mill, the gas-station attendants, school-bus-drivers, and such.

I progressed in high school to the Air Force, and for five years....felt like I was working-poor.....then reached some level where the pay scale corrected itself.

The problem in looking  at this teacher....there's probably half-a-million teachers in the same category....trying to live in a highly urbanized area (like Baltimore, NY City, Philly, Atlanta, Chicago, and so on). 

There's a problem brewing....but I doubt that we really want to discuss it.

James Carville Commentary

 I noted this AM....a suggestion put forth by the Democratic strategist...probably aimed for 2028:  bringing the Supreme Court to 13 (instead of the nine presently), getting both DC and Puerto Rico arranged for statehood (adding four Senators), 

I pondered over this. 

I'm of the mind we  should reset the Supreme Court entirely....mandating 50 Justices (one from each state), and a lucky-pick situation for each hearing....selecting nine folks to hear a case (at random).   At the same time, I'd  limit the term to one single term of seven years....then forced retirement.

As for the statehood thing....I'm already open to allow in Alberta and Saskatchewan....as they exit Canada.    I guess I'm open for five or six other provinces as well.  

I'm pretty open for Guam to enter.

I could see the logic of Puerto Rico....although each time this has come up to a vote....folks there just wanted the status of  'no-change'.

Approaching the current Senate and saying it might have to find room to allow 20 more Senators in the hall?  Some of the old guys would freak out.