1. Cuomo doubts stay-at-home tactic for those with the Coronavirus. Well, here's the thing, if you are obsessed that only hospital-care will work (even if you are 25 years old and without any of the normal big symptoms....diabetes, poor liver, etc), then you throw 100-percent of the sick folks toward the hospitals....they will fail MISERABLY.
The German system of having roughly 85-to-90 percent of the positive folks do their time at home WORKS. You reserve the hospitals only for the folks with the big symptoms or the aged.
2. The BIG massive mess that NY City appears to have generated....has made the German news (page one) and they can't fully understand how so much chaos can be generated. The blame-game? In full attention....leading one to think it's a national issue.
3. If I were a NY City resident right now? I'd pack the bags and head off to Florida or to some relative who resides out of state. The healthcare system in NY City appears to be in a state of collapse.
4. The odds that a complete and successful convention can occur in July (Democrats) and August (GOP)? The Republicans could cancel out, but it'd really screw up the contracts with the city of Charlotte. The Democrats? There's a lot of theatrical stuff to occur (Joe will step back and a new candidate would occur).
5. Somewhere out of thin-air, some lady accuses Joe Biden of sexual assault. Just what you needed for the campaign.
6. The baseball season? Totally shot. For some teams, it's a financial loss that they can't handle.
7. The odds that pro-wrestling will shut down for six months? I would be betting on it.
8. The use of curfews? It's like a forbidden topic.
9. The election in November? Of the hundred-odd things that it ought to be about....it'll be mostly about the Coronavirus. Go and try to explain that to people in thirty years.
10. Fear of the unknown.....is what is dramatically selling via the news media.
Friday, 27 March 2020
Thursday, 26 March 2020
The "Joe-Exit" Strategy
The last primary state is Kentucky on 23 June.
The Democratic Convention starts on 13 July.
I expect on 26 June (Friday) an announcement to occur that Joe Biden is withdrawing his name because of 'health' reasons. The entire weekend will be maximum turbo power discussion over the replacement candidate and how the open convention will be run. Nothing else will occur that weekend.....otherwise, it'd kill off the whole 'hype' necessary.
The likely list? Hillary, Warren, Stacey Abrams of Georgia, and Governor Cuomo of NY.
So all that money and time, with the debates.....totally wasted? Yeah. That's really the part that Democrats should talk about.
The Democratic Convention starts on 13 July.
I expect on 26 June (Friday) an announcement to occur that Joe Biden is withdrawing his name because of 'health' reasons. The entire weekend will be maximum turbo power discussion over the replacement candidate and how the open convention will be run. Nothing else will occur that weekend.....otherwise, it'd kill off the whole 'hype' necessary.
The likely list? Hillary, Warren, Stacey Abrams of Georgia, and Governor Cuomo of NY.
So all that money and time, with the debates.....totally wasted? Yeah. That's really the part that Democrats should talk about.
Poll Tax Story
Yesterday, the topic of 'poll taxes' popped into my head, and I was curious....what exactly did they amount to?
Well....after review....in the state of Alabama (from 1877 to 1966), the tax that you paid at the polling station as you voted was $1.50.
The most costly states? Main and Massachusetts, at $3.00.
Most southern states had a tax that varied from $1 to $1.50 at the station.
What'd it pay for? Mostly clerk cost to maintain the voter rolls and vote 'forms'.
What happened after it was outlawed in 1965? Well....the cost of the clerks, and the maintenance of the voter rolls simply went to regular taxation. So one tax disappeared and made folks happy, and the other tax came to replace it (via sales taxes in your local country or city). If you asked people about this....they wouldn't really grasp that there is a cost factor and someone is paying for that maintenance.
So, how many states still had voter taxes existing into the 1960s? Oddly....just seven. Yes, the bulk of them had already dumped it in the 1930s and 1940s. California dumped it in 1914. Louisiana dumped it in the Huey Long era (1934).
Confusing? I think a lot of people have been told grand stories, and if you lay out the whole landscape.....the bulk of the emphasis is marginal.
Well....after review....in the state of Alabama (from 1877 to 1966), the tax that you paid at the polling station as you voted was $1.50.
The most costly states? Main and Massachusetts, at $3.00.
Most southern states had a tax that varied from $1 to $1.50 at the station.
What'd it pay for? Mostly clerk cost to maintain the voter rolls and vote 'forms'.
What happened after it was outlawed in 1965? Well....the cost of the clerks, and the maintenance of the voter rolls simply went to regular taxation. So one tax disappeared and made folks happy, and the other tax came to replace it (via sales taxes in your local country or city). If you asked people about this....they wouldn't really grasp that there is a cost factor and someone is paying for that maintenance.
So, how many states still had voter taxes existing into the 1960s? Oddly....just seven. Yes, the bulk of them had already dumped it in the 1930s and 1940s. California dumped it in 1914. Louisiana dumped it in the Huey Long era (1934).
Confusing? I think a lot of people have been told grand stories, and if you lay out the whole landscape.....the bulk of the emphasis is marginal.
Biden's Newest Claim: College Professor
In the last day or two....Joe Biden has spoken of his past again....over something that may or may not be true.....that he was a college professor after being VP. Over the coming weeks, I expect other backgrounds to be mentioned by Joe:
1. Amazon River explorer
2. Rodeo rider
3. Worked on the wrestling circuit as 'Doctor Evil' after VP years
4. Spent one year with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a Shortstop in the 1960s
5. Did long-haul trucking for six weeks in the 1980s
6. Tried his hand as a Baptist minister for five days in 1980
7. Asked the History Channel to do a reality show over politicians-turned-shrimp fishermen
8. Wrote a bawdy tale about alien women landing on Earth and having affairs with drywall guys
9. Was a part-time gourmet chef in New Orleans for three days
10. Wrote some poetry under an anonymous name....mostly over cats and dogs
1. Amazon River explorer
2. Rodeo rider
3. Worked on the wrestling circuit as 'Doctor Evil' after VP years
4. Spent one year with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a Shortstop in the 1960s
5. Did long-haul trucking for six weeks in the 1980s
6. Tried his hand as a Baptist minister for five days in 1980
7. Asked the History Channel to do a reality show over politicians-turned-shrimp fishermen
8. Wrote a bawdy tale about alien women landing on Earth and having affairs with drywall guys
9. Was a part-time gourmet chef in New Orleans for three days
10. Wrote some poetry under an anonymous name....mostly over cats and dogs
Wednesday, 25 March 2020
The Fantasy of a 1,400 Page Congressional Bill
The statistical average for a person to read any material....in an hour....is about fifty pages (double-spaced). If this is science, engineering or medical-related material....it's in the 35 to 40 pages per hour. If this is some teen-vampire-fantasy stuff....maybe seventy pages per hour (if you were obsessed with the stuff).
So when Pelosi introduced her 1,400 page funding document bill.....the reality is that no one in the House or Senate is going to read the entire bill. You can imagine this pdf-document arriving at Senator So-v-So's office, and Wanda (the secretary) goes and prints out the whole thing. The staff would gather around this document, and the Senator would shed a tear or two.....knowing that they might be able to read five-hundred pages of this at best.
Personally, I'd to see a House-Senate 'rule' to be created, that no bill can be more than what you can read in a two-hour period (roughly 100 pages). Then put this up to vote upon. Then proceed to bill #2, bill #3, and so on.
What the Pelosi team wants....is a document that is too broad and demanding....so that no one reads the whole thing. A democracy running on the creation in an average year of 32,000 pages....of which no one ever reads more than 10-percent of the documentation? Yeah.
Then you toss in the fact that almost one-third of the Senators are over the age of sixty-five, and just asking them to read fifty pages over an entire day.....is a joke.
So when Pelosi introduced her 1,400 page funding document bill.....the reality is that no one in the House or Senate is going to read the entire bill. You can imagine this pdf-document arriving at Senator So-v-So's office, and Wanda (the secretary) goes and prints out the whole thing. The staff would gather around this document, and the Senator would shed a tear or two.....knowing that they might be able to read five-hundred pages of this at best.
Personally, I'd to see a House-Senate 'rule' to be created, that no bill can be more than what you can read in a two-hour period (roughly 100 pages). Then put this up to vote upon. Then proceed to bill #2, bill #3, and so on.
What the Pelosi team wants....is a document that is too broad and demanding....so that no one reads the whole thing. A democracy running on the creation in an average year of 32,000 pages....of which no one ever reads more than 10-percent of the documentation? Yeah.
Then you toss in the fact that almost one-third of the Senators are over the age of sixty-five, and just asking them to read fifty pages over an entire day.....is a joke.
Tuesday, 24 March 2020
Skepticism, Distrust and Disbelief
One can spend a week watching through the Sunday political talk shows, the regular news via CNN/Fox/MSNBC, and read through newspapers....to reach what I'd call an era of skepticism, distrust and disbelief.
In simple terms, the general public in the United States has reached a level where they just don't believe news that is dished out to them.
Polls are constructed and don't reflect reality.
Journalists behave like cheerleaders or a fifth-grade class of kids.
Dramatics seem to be the most anticipated part of a 30-minute newscast.
Half of the nightly news people are acting like Richard Burton, Joan Crawford, Robert Redford, or Rock Hudson. A few are in the Will Ferrell category, and could be talking seriously to you about marshmallow diets one minute and Republicans having a higher fart-rate than Democrats the next minute.
Survey and polls are done on an hour by hour basis...to project something....often of no value. The fact that gospel singers prefer Fords over Buicks.....probably doesn't matter. The fact that dogs can't tell the difference between 2-star treats and 4-star treats....probably doesn't matter. The fact that bigger boobed waitresses get better tips than guys.....well, it shouldn't matter.
We are in the age where skepticism is dawning upon people daily, and they seem to question virtually everyone....even their spouse, their local minister, or the local bartender who used to be a 'beacon of light' during chaotic life events.
Where will this lead? Unknown. But it's a segment of the future that is cloudy and full of strange curves. We might go to another reality in 2024, and hype up a former NCAA football coach....to be President. Don't be that shocked.
In simple terms, the general public in the United States has reached a level where they just don't believe news that is dished out to them.
Polls are constructed and don't reflect reality.
Journalists behave like cheerleaders or a fifth-grade class of kids.
Dramatics seem to be the most anticipated part of a 30-minute newscast.
Half of the nightly news people are acting like Richard Burton, Joan Crawford, Robert Redford, or Rock Hudson. A few are in the Will Ferrell category, and could be talking seriously to you about marshmallow diets one minute and Republicans having a higher fart-rate than Democrats the next minute.
Survey and polls are done on an hour by hour basis...to project something....often of no value. The fact that gospel singers prefer Fords over Buicks.....probably doesn't matter. The fact that dogs can't tell the difference between 2-star treats and 4-star treats....probably doesn't matter. The fact that bigger boobed waitresses get better tips than guys.....well, it shouldn't matter.
We are in the age where skepticism is dawning upon people daily, and they seem to question virtually everyone....even their spouse, their local minister, or the local bartender who used to be a 'beacon of light' during chaotic life events.
Where will this lead? Unknown. But it's a segment of the future that is cloudy and full of strange curves. We might go to another reality in 2024, and hype up a former NCAA football coach....to be President. Don't be that shocked.
What Happens When You Are Smarter Than the Intellectual
This is one of those thought-provoking essays that I tend to write three or four times a year. So, the question is....what happens when you are sitting there and come to realize that the professor or intellectual in front of you (who used to always have knowledge, wisdom, debate skills, and reasoning ability)....he or she, just isn't much smarter than you.
Thirty years ago, I would have suggested that this would be something of a rare nature to notice....today, I might notice it five times a day. As you span out and view people with university degrees, those awarded professorships, and the intellectual crowd....it's often questionable if they can match up to you, the mere mortal....with your personal wit and normal debate skills.
What really happened over the past thirty years? I will offer three observations:
1. Colleges downgraded the stamina requirements for a degree. Oh, it might still be the same hard situation to be an engineer or doctor, but in most other degree programs.....debate and reasoning have been more or less downgraded....often to the level of a seventh-grade high school class.
2. 'Expert' status used to be a big deal....but between the news media and fake journalism....we'd handed out 'expert' status to literally tens of thousands of Americans, and the bulk really don't deserve the status. There are individuals who had one single remarkable period in the early 1970s for maybe three years of 'expert' status, and we wake up to find this guy being recycled and thrust back into the limelight fifty years later, and noted for 'expert' status. Then three minutes into this Q and A session....we just laughing at the poor judgement of the network, and 75-year old guy dragged in for purely entertainment reasons.
3. Some type of brainwash affect has occurred, where people think four years in some college has given them some gift, and they immediately feel the power of intellectualism makes them 'smarter' than normal people. Never once do they question this behavior.
Are we in for a rough ride? I think so. If you try to use facts with these people.....they get all confused and then resort to illogical arguments, with no real basis for a conclusion.
Thirty years ago, I would have suggested that this would be something of a rare nature to notice....today, I might notice it five times a day. As you span out and view people with university degrees, those awarded professorships, and the intellectual crowd....it's often questionable if they can match up to you, the mere mortal....with your personal wit and normal debate skills.
What really happened over the past thirty years? I will offer three observations:
1. Colleges downgraded the stamina requirements for a degree. Oh, it might still be the same hard situation to be an engineer or doctor, but in most other degree programs.....debate and reasoning have been more or less downgraded....often to the level of a seventh-grade high school class.
2. 'Expert' status used to be a big deal....but between the news media and fake journalism....we'd handed out 'expert' status to literally tens of thousands of Americans, and the bulk really don't deserve the status. There are individuals who had one single remarkable period in the early 1970s for maybe three years of 'expert' status, and we wake up to find this guy being recycled and thrust back into the limelight fifty years later, and noted for 'expert' status. Then three minutes into this Q and A session....we just laughing at the poor judgement of the network, and 75-year old guy dragged in for purely entertainment reasons.
3. Some type of brainwash affect has occurred, where people think four years in some college has given them some gift, and they immediately feel the power of intellectualism makes them 'smarter' than normal people. Never once do they question this behavior.
Are we in for a rough ride? I think so. If you try to use facts with these people.....they get all confused and then resort to illogical arguments, with no real basis for a conclusion.
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