Army Bootcamp At Age 43?

 I sat and read a piece yesterday.....it's  been on my mind.

The Army wrote a new regulation....you can enter Army bootcamp up to age 42.

I tried to imagine....me at age 40 (I was still in decent shape....running 4 miles a week, and spending three morning at the gym)....signing  up for Army bootcamp.  But that was my Air Force period. If I were farmer-status....I doubt if I could handle the fitness requirement.

How many plus-35-year-old guys will sign up?  I would guess a couple hundred guys....maybe more women than guys.

The thing is.....you'd approach age 60....retire for 50-percent of your pay, and four years later...pick up social security. 

The Rubio

"We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline." 

- Marco Rubio

'Fake-intellectual' equals 'polite'.....my view.

Trump has removed the speed-control-system to Rubio....where he can say just about anything he desires, and Trump simply grins when he hears what Marco said.  If you gaze around....there's probably seven fantastic Rubio quotes per day.

Four Observations

 1.  The TSA crap....within about 2 weeks will flip to one of two scenarios....the President will convert all TSA slots to ICE positions, or five to ten minor airports will be shutdown (probably in key Democratic districts). 

In either case...Dems will be freaked out and end the crisis.

2. People freaking out about a  $4/gallon of gas, but standing in line for a $8 latte at Starbucks.  Make sense out of that.

3.  Reading through some news pieces.....early 2024....U.S. intercepted Ukraine government messages discussing plot to route money to Biden re-election (before he  exited the race).  

4.  Between 180,000 and 300,000....religious instructors are in Iran.  Basically....they have to 'go'....so it's curious, where will they end up?

Six Crazy Things

 1.  Looking over five states and their taxation plans (Cal, OR, WA, IL, and NY)....it's obvious that sports teams in these states are about to 'dumped' upon....with four-star players mostly saying no to future contracts.

Teams like the Angels, Padres, Giants and Dodgers?   Screwed.  

2.  The topic rarely came up in the 1970s/1980s/1990s....but if you ask folks if there are states which they WON'T move to....more than 50-percent of folks will list five to ten states of which they can't possibly move to.

3.  Someone brought up a growing German issue....that schools used to openly offer free music lessons, and today....don't.

Chief reason?  Well...if you openly offer music....Muslims get offended because they consider it a 'grave' sin.

4.  After viewing the TSA mess (no pay)....I have the solution.

Charge me as I enter the airport for security....$10.  Hand me a voucher for the $10....which I can flip to the bank after Congress resolves the mess, and  pay me the $10 back later.

5.  It just seems odd....bunch of news folks freely admit that Joe Biden was goofy and 'suffering' for four years, and now admit they noticed this.

Someone ought to invent a mental condition....for seeing reality but can't admit it until five years later.

6.  This past month....I've seen various folks freely admit they can't find or resolve their birth certificate situation.  It's like they are mentally handicapped, or freely admitting a IQ level of 65.

Voting Chatter

 I noticed a Supreme Court episode yesterday....arguing over 'counting' votes past election day.  

Roughly 19 states (Ala  is one)....allow for mail-in votes to be counted after election day.  Some allow a day or two....some allow almost 3 weeks.

1978....I was stationed in West Germany, and we were all told....to vote....do it as early/quickly as possible, and  mail in the ballot at least  seven days prior. The Air Force was flying at least twice a day from Frankfurt....to get ballots to the East Coast.  The warning given....if your ballot didn't get to the state by election  day...it would NOT count.

The key problem in this whole 'count-business' for mail-in-voting?  Well....the postal system.   

While stationed at Bitburg (1993)....this topic came up and someone had run a 'test' mail-in.....finding that  a letter mailed on day ZERO....took around 12 days to reach some rural location of Idaho. Course, what they didn't test....if you mailed from  north Idaho...to southern Idaho....it probably took 6 days to reach the end-point.

In Alabama....if you were to mail from your house....to the guy six houses down....the letter gets picked up. Then  it gets dumped into a bag at the local post office, and sent to Birmingham (3 hours away)....then gets checked....to come back to the local area, and then delivered to the neighbor. Amount of time involved?  You can figure a minimum of three days....probably five days if mailed on a Thursday.

My general advice....if you were living overseas....hand the ballot to FEDEX, and feel pretty sure of its arrival in 72 hours. 

The court action?  Most folks think the 19 states will be directed to count only up to election day.  

My Interest In Economics

 At some point in the late 1990s....someone I worked with (in the intel-vault business) had been working on a finance-related degree, and brought in a dozen tapes with Milton Friedman.  I agreed to take to take one of the tapes home for the weekend.

In the end, I had watched all of the dozen tapes they had, and over the next year....I probably consumed four books on pure economics.  

If you'd introduced me to Milton Friedman back in 1975 (in high school)?  I might have gone onto some university program....instead of the Air Force

A dull topic?  Oh yeah....but here's the thing....if you make economics into rocket science, it is absolutely crap and boring.  Friedman knew precisely how to relate various topics to the normal guy on the street....continually telling you that it simply wasn't rocket science.

I can sit today and read over agricultural reports, stock market analysis, futures, derivatives, failed banks, and understand the bulk of what is going on.  But here's the odd part of this 'path'....it's after college that I get into this topic, and it's all on a reading/viewing schedule of my own choosing.  Yeah, I've probably near 500 man-hours of my time into it....with no degree earned in the entire process.  

Yeah, just a hobby....more or less. 

Ten General Rules I'd Suggest In Life

1.  If it feels like indoctrination....it probably is a point you want to find the exit to the room and leave.

2.  There's good beer, and bad beer.  Don't waste time or thirst on crappy beer.

3.  If you are listening to a politician, and after three minutes....nothing much of what they say....makes sense, then mute the rest of the news piece.

4.  If your co-worker isn't married or has never been married....don't seek marriage advice from them.

5.  Some days....just a cup of coffee and a cupcake....will brighten your day.

6.  The quickest way to failure in life.....is just riding the 'wave' and never laying out your path or direction.

7.  Simple debt (say in the $10,000 range) is easy to pay-off.  Massive debt (beyond $50,000)....will drag you along for 10 to 20 years.

8.  If you make something into rocket-science....it's a 50-50 chance that it's not really pure rocket-science.

9.  If you are living in a ghetto-town or ghetto-neighborhood.....making no effort to leave....you must enjoy the lifestyle and trend.

10.  If no road-map exists for where you want to go in life.....make one.