Crisis Approaching

 In the spring of 1980....I went in to buy a cheapo car on E-4 pay, and by the time, the dealer did the paperwork....I ended up with a 36 month loan.  

Around 1996, I worked with a guy who'd gone to the high side of cars, and ended up in a 60 month loan, which I sat there shaking my head.  

At the speed of depreciation...by the end of the 3rd year...the car had lost around 50-percent of value.  He was expecting the value to have low maintenance issues....all the way up to six years....which is something I could not imagine (I grew up in the 1960s/1970s and had a totally different view on 'trust' of cars).

By the 2005 era, I now encountered people who were playing the 72-month (6 year) car loan.  I thought it was ridiculous to engage in this long-strategy.

In the past year or two....I noticed chatter about 84 month car loans....with the situation involving $60,000 ultimate-loaded vehicles, and some bank thinking they could trust people to pay a 84-month loan back, and not get into repossession.

So you imagine the scenario....Bob buys a $75,000 vehicle and opts to pay over 84 months.  Three years into this....Bob loses his job and gets behind on $914 per month payment.  Bank takes possession, and what exactly do they have?

Well....at 3 years, the $75k car is probably holding a value of around $38,000, but the bank is on the hook...having a vehicle that they probably can't sell at $38k.  

Liquidity crisis coming?  Yeah....and those car unions asking for more wages?  They will face some reality in the next three years.

'Re-Boot' of Dukes of Hazard?

 Well....there was some BS I noticed this AM, where some TV people are openly discussing the idea. 

How it would work?  Unknown.

I speculated over this for a while and came to five observations:

1.  It'd have to be heavily 'woke' and involve some urbanized area (probably Baton Rouge or Nashville).  That means at least one of the eight main characters would have to be gay, trans or lesbian.  

2.  What Dukes of Hazard was famous for?  Having a half-page idea for a script and building BS text around some fake drama/comedy.  Could you put together a 22-episode season around that concept today?  I doubt it.

3.  The 'General Lee' (the car that the boys drove)....was a 1969 Dodge Charger.  Today?  I would imagine some idiot executive would try to use a Tesla Cybertruck or some other type of E-car.  Some running gag will be the two-hour charge situation where the guys all sit around.  

4.  The corrupt 'Boss Hogg'?  Likely to be portrayed as a Republican....same for the county sheriff.  

5.  At least three major characters would have to be black or Hispanic.  

Yeah, I see this as a failure, and likely never to get past the 'talking' stage of a show.  

But here's the odd thing....they are so run out of decent ideas for TV shows, and competition from Netflix so heavy....that use of old TV shows is almost mandatory.  I'm shocked that Mister Ed or Petticoat Junction haven't been re-booted yet.  

Four Things I Tend To Believe Now

 1.  I suspect in 2024, more than 300,000 American juveniles/college students...will go and read Adolph Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' and give some thought that he was 'right'....creating some wild and crazy thoughts.  Some American politicians will suggest that the book needs to be banned, to prevent nation-wide chaos.

2.  Some massive postal rate change will occur in 2024 (4-billion dollar loss projected this week).  The massive rate increase will trigger people to question how the postal system works, and lead to a five-day-a-week operation by the end of 2024.

3.  Homeless crowd will be 'chased' out of California over 2024....with accusations that they just funneled them into Oregon/Washington.

4.  On Snoop Dogg's statement yesterday that he will cease all cannabis use....he'll make good on this vow for about a month, then relapse. 

How To 'Read' The White House Cocaine Episode

 Back in July, a baggy with cocaine was found in the White House.  Depending on who describes the situation....there are three different locations on where it was found (don't ask why).

So the Secret Service went out and did a DNA exam on it, and they have the 'code'.

What they say?  They've locked the analysis/code up....nothing else will be done.

So, how to read this?  The Secret Service knows precisely who this leads to (my humble suggestion....President Biden, Hunter Biden, or Jill Biden).  The Secret Service is basically in a bluff situation, where they can earn promotion points or get some advantage out of this.

President Biden smart enough to figure this out?  Yeah, I would suggest that he's aware of the bluff, and as he exits the White House....the DNA exam will disappear quickly and quietly.

Corrupted?  You could say that, but I would imagine it's continually played on all Presidents. 

This Vivek Idea On Firing Fed Workers

 Basically, he suggested that he'd walk in on day one of his administration and order a firing of fed workers....based on your social security numbering in a even-number or a odd-number. 

Legal?  Yeah, in fact, you'd bypass years of challenges in court....by this method.  You'd just get a notice at 8 AM....clear your desk, and here's some exit check.  

Now, you might ask....what if there are more 'odds' than 'evens' in the government service sector?  Well....no one has ever collected such data....so you might be correct.

The odds that more 'evens' are incompetent, than 'odds'?  Maybe, but it might be chance to energize incompetent folks.

More incompetent managers who are 'evens'?  That's a possibility.

I suspect his idea is to target one single agency (DoJ for example), and use this as a 'test'.

Ten Things I Believe Will Happen in 2024

 1.  I think an economic crisis stage will occur where President Biden goes to the House and proposes two checks of $1.5-thousand each.....to stabilize American families.  I don't think the House will agree to it.  The necessity for the checks?  Financially, over half the families in America are in serious debt issues.  Even if you wrote out two checks like this....they'd just spend the money....rather than pay down their debt.

2.  I think Biden is there to run up to the convention, then withdraw, and allow some faked-up convention to convince the public that Governor Newsom is the guy to replace Biden. 

3.  I think some 7-day bank shut-down crisis will occur in 2024....where all banks close, and even the ATM-machines are turned off, with daily/weekly/monthly limits put on your account from that day forward.  

4.  I think all of the major car companies will be unable to sell more than half of their 2023 numbers in 2024....bringing in a new crisis.

5.  I think that CNN will be marketed for sale, and find some Latin American media company the only one willing to pay what is perceived as 'full-price'.

6.  Movie studios discover that crappy Star Wars and Marvel movies....won't sell like they did in the past.  

7.  You will be able to test 18-year old American kids, who seem to know Hitler in some fashion, but if you show them the Kaiser's picture instead....most will identify him as Hitler.

8.  Some invented oil embargo from the Middle East will start in 2024, with Biden's crew unable to do anything....even to suggest producing more US crude.  Gas prices by spring will soar to $8 a gallon.

9.  Some religious cult will start up on US college campuses.....revolving around devil worship and black magic....with more than 50,000 students in the initial membership.

10.  One out of ten graduates from college in 2024....will admit by the end of the year that they are employed in some BS job....that they can't stand the majority of co-workers, and they don't understand anything about the work they do, but they feel stressed out about whatever it is.  

My Three Credit Card Stories

 The first time I ever attempted to get a credit card...was in March of 1980...at McChord AFB's single bank on base.  

It was a 6-minute conversation.

I had been a member of the bank for 3 months, and wanted to get a card.  The lady looked over my numbers and then said....well...the best she could do was a card with roughly $850 of limit, and a yearly fee of $75.

What I was making at the time?  $637 a month (before taxes/social security).  I gulped over the $75 fee, and just said 'no thanks'.

The second time I ever attempted a credit card....was the summer of 1987.  I was now in the $1,200 a month range on military pay.  

Oh yeah, by this point....they were willing to offer me a card with zero fees, and a limit of $8,000.  Yeah, way over logical sense.

As you looked around in this era....probably one out of three military folks were in serious debt issues, and no real control over spending.  

Around six years would pass, and the Air Force now wanted to sell everyone on NCO Club membership, and a credit card to be part of their gimmick....with the monthly charge coming off this card.

It seemed like some propaganda crap....getting people hyped up, and you noticed over the next year or two....more folks got into deeper debt issues....over this stupid club card.