'Brink of Danger' Essay

 I noticed last night a new poll.  It said that ONLY 33-percent of Americans approve of President Biden's job performance.  The fact that it's barely 365 days into the period?  Well....that would something discuss.

But here's the odd....a majority of Americans NOW believe that the nation's democracy is on the 'brink of danger'.

I sat for a while looking at the word....'brink' and 'danger'.

You could gather up a hundred friends and neighbors....asking them to define both words, and you'd get a hundred variations.

Around older military guys.....'brink of danger' is the most screwed scenario possible where nuke warfare occurs, and it just never happens.

If you asked some college kid....he'd say 'brink of danger' is where the Dodgers on a fantastic roll in early August....suddenly to have four pitchers caught in a transsexual five some in a hotel room.

If you asked some farmer....he'd say 'brink of danger' is where lightning has stuck a tree where a dozen cows are huddled around the tree while the storm rages.

So it's hard to say what the crowd meant by brink of danger.

Can Biden do anything much?  No.  Other than resigning and I doubt he has the capability to do that, and it'd just give you Harris as the replacement anyway.

CNN in this whole landscape?  They've pretty much watched the ship sink and have gathered around around in life jackets and a rubber boat.....to discuss the old days (back around 2000).  

Even bringing in Doctor Doom himself to scare up some new fresh people....just won't do much for the gut-feeling.  

The odds of the job performance getting down below 20-percent by 1 January 2023?  I'd now give it better than 50-percent chance.  

Ten Strategies You Ought To Carry Around In Your Life

 1.  If something isn't 'broke'....don't waste time thinking it is broke and needing a fix.  Don't let others convince you of a fake 'broke-status'.  Either it's broke, or it's not.

2.  Don't make decisions when you are mad or angry.  Go reflect for several hours (maybe even days),  and then make some wise thoughts come together.

3.  Productive office meetings rarely produce positive results if they last over thirty minutes.  On hour-plus meetings....it's guaranteed to be zero gain.  

4.  Once you start burning bridges.....your options start to decrease on future solutions.  If a bridge deserves to be burnt....do it in a low-key way and know the damage extent ahead of time.

5.  If you've reached the point where motivation in your job or passion is zero....it's probably time to reassess where you are, and find a new path, new job, or new passion.

6.  Appreciate what you have today (relationships, health, a good job, a great vacation, etc).

7.  Accept change.  

8.  Every second, every minute, every day, every week.....has a value attached.  Don't waste five hours doing a project that has zero pay-back.  There ought to be a calendar at the office and in the house....each reflecting projects and plan 'B' situations. 

9.  Keep it simple.  Don't turn a minor situation into a Einstein-moment or something requiring rocket science.

10.  The least appreciated talent in life is humor.  It gets you through rough spots, downward economic periods, and bad relationships.  Learn to reflect upon hardships with an ounce or two of humor.  

How Many Democratic Senate Seats Will Flip?

 Six months ago....I would have said almost zero.  Today?  I'd put the number of Democratic-controlled seats to flip at four: Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and New Hampshire.  

Republican seats to flip?  I'd put Wisconsin at a better than 50-percent chance to flip.

President Biden able to halt/prevent the four losses?  Well....no.  There's just not any 4-star accomplishments about to occur in 2022, which would translate to positive numbers. 

The more interesting race to watch?  Right now....Georgia, with former football great Herschel Walker running as a Republican.  Polling (as of early December 2021)....Warnock versus Walker?  Walker is currently ahead by one point in the polls. 

Five Things On My Mind

 1.  How many FBI informants were in DC on the 6th of January 2021?  

The more you think about this....the more humorous the topic becomes.  Personally, it wouldn't shock me if the FBI had a minimum of fifty informants within the various militia groups that gathered up, and half of them were reporting on the other half. 

2.  Are there 50-million Covid test kits sitting in a government warehouse?

Well...probably so (the news people hint this).  So I ponder upon this and will simply note....each box has a expiration date from production (typically 12 months from that day).  So unless you had a really smart guy managing the warehouse....the odds are that the kits are reaching an expiration day in the next month or two.  It's a waste of time and effort for the government to get into this type of purchasing plan.

3.  Did a 'hot' mic catch Doctor Fauci uttering 'moron' at a Republican Senator?

Yes.  And if this were the 1970s/1980s....there would have been a budget cut forced upon Fauci's agency to pay him for his insult.  

4.  The US Army holding an exercise in a rural area of North Carolina that injects a guerilla war scenario?

Rather than hold this on a normal Army post (dozens of training areas throughout the US).....this is done in the open....in a normal town environment of North Carolina.  There are potentially a thousand things that can go wrong, and I can't imagine a senior Army officer signing off on this idea.  

5.  China engaging in changing Cuba?

First, I think if you took a thousand Chinese folks and dumped them into Cuba for a year....99-percent would be permanently changed and would probably unable to revert back to their old traditions in China.  Maybe the political leadership in China thinks they can accomplish something, but I seriously doubt it.  

Joe, Kam and This Atlanta Speech

 I sat and watched the 35-odd minute speech by President Biden and VP Harris....to press on with the Voting Rights Bill.

So five observations:

1.  Did Joe Biden really say 'President Harris'?  Yeah.

2.  I think the speech might have made sense in 1968.....but here in 2022....it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

3.  This hype for a act for that doesn't to be in the top ten priorities of Democrats?  This is the odd part of the story.  This is like the federal government riding in on 'white horses' to save the poor rancher woman.....who left 25 years ago for better surroundings.  

4.  The fact that Stacey Abrams wasn't there?  Either she's toxic to Joe's program, or Joe is toxic to Abram's program.  

5.  Any well known black Georgia civil rights people in attendance?  Well....you didn't see a one.  That begs questions. 

Xanax Politics

 In the real world....there is this drug called Xanax (Alprazolam), which is usually given out as a prescription to help treat anxiety and panic disorder.

 It belongs to a class of medications called benzodiazepines which act on the brain and nerves to give you a seemingly effective calm feeling.

In general, as long as you don't consume alcohol, mix other drugs with it, or get into massive chaos to double up your stress....it works.

The fact that it only works six to ten hours?  Well....you kinda time your dose....to get maximum effect.

If you decide it's crappy....well....you gotta talk to the doctor because getting 'off' Xanax is pretty screwed-up and has potential problems.  Some people will tell you....from the day they said 'enough'....it took a minimum of six months to feel safe.

Potential side-effects?  

You might feel light-headed (dizzy)....like the night when you discovered Hillary Clinton lost the election.  

Your risk-taking views on life might increase, where you actually sit and talk to conservatives and they seem to make sense all of a sudden.  

You might hallucinate to some degree (thinking you were in Malibu with a Baywatch-Democratic mayor on your arm, then it dissolves into a new hallucination where it's really a transgender politician who seems to talk like that Senator Cruz guy).  

You might feel sudden rushes of energy....like you think you can fix every pothole in your town, or cure America of Covid by thrusting masks at people.  

You might have these thoughts of agitation occur where the slightest comment by a conservative guy sets you off and makes you identify him as 'orange-man'.  

You might seem confused......like why did Doctor Fucci seem to make sense last month,  and today seems like a 4th grade kid?  

The question is....are we consuming imaginary Xanax enough....that it screws up our reality?  

Fact: Just for the record, if you were thinking about that Parkland School Shooting of 2018, with that Cruz kid....wondering if he did Xanax?  Well....he didn't have any problem admitting he used it.  

$548-Million

 The US government pays out around $548-million now (yearly) to informants.  I sat and looked at the amount....pretty hefty amount.

This includes all of the various agencies.  

Are there people pulling in $100k a year?  Well....no one really suggests that.  There's just this funnel and if you provide information to some agency....you might be getting a regular check of some amount.  

Could you get check #1 from the FBI, and check #2 from the DEA?  Well....no one really says it's impossible.