Four Observations

 1.  If you are a California resident....owning property, and paying taxes yearly....you kinda figure that the money will go your safety and security (the fire department and police).  So when the money ends up in homeless 'free-money-pits' or going toward migration programs....you lose trust.

2.  Various social media sources in Washington report that psychologists are being invited in to explain how to handle Trump-stress....within political figure groups. I would imagine therapy and shots of whiskey are being offered.

3.  Senate seats flipping to Republican in 2026?  Georgia, Michigan.  Republican  Senators likely forced out by primary action....Cornyn of Texas, Graham of SC, Tillis of NC, and McConnell of KY.

4.  There's some statistical data showing car accidents rate increases....if you have sleep apnea.

Reading Level Story

 I read a piece today....saying from across America...that 54-percent of Americans read at the sixth-grade level OR BELOW.

I paused over this.  

Lets be honest....if you lined up 100 kids who graduated high school in the last year.....probably half of them are in the 6th-grade level.  

This making them risky at grasping instructions?  Well....yeah.

Easily BSing them, giving them fake stories?  Well...yeah.

One of My Military Stories

 It was a ironclad rule of the  Air Force....you show up for a military-contracted passenger flight....you had to be in dress-uniform (Army, Air Force, Navy)....it didn't matter. 

I showed up in St Louis, for one of these passenger flights....early 1990s.  Military folks doing tickets/boarding.

Air Force couple shows up in uniform, and gets their boarding pass....boards....then goes to the plane toilet.....changing out of the uniform in jogging pants/t-shirts.

Around a dozen passengers (mostly junior officers) go berserk....'you-can't-do-that'.

The couple refuse to comply (they were both E-6's from what I could figure).

Contracted stewardesses refuse to get into this....telling the whiners to shut up.

Within a year....the regulation had changed so on these military-contracted flights....you could wearing civilian clothing.

21 Podcast Folks I Will Occasionally Listen To

 1.  Joe Rogan. Out of every ten  he does (at least in 2024)....I probably caught around six of them.

2. Ian Carroll. The king of conspiracy chatter. He researches these, and lays out the pieces.

3.'I Allegedly' (Dan).  Find it off YouTube.   If you have interest in business/commerce or financial news....he does a 15-minute piece each day.  Blunt talk....often critical. 

4.  Robert Sepehr. Find it via YouTube.  PhD-level thinker. He does one 'talk' about every two weeks....diving deep a topic.

5. Valuetainment, off Youtube.  30 minute piece at  least twice a week. Lean right. Commerce and analysis chatter. 

6. Danny Jones, off YouTube.  Half of what he doe....you can disregard in 10 minutes.  But he brings on guests and  about half  of these interviews are  really far out on science/history.....worth an hour of your time.

7.  Sabbatical, off  YouTube.  This guy travels constantly, to historical locations (even dangerous places)....giving you a 5-star history lesson.  

8.  Joe Blogs, off YouTube. Business and commerce analysis....lot of Russian finance views. Ton of graphs/charts.  Might be the 5-star master economist.

9. Paul in the Philippines, off YouTube.  Retired guy living in the Philippines. Interesting interviews with mostly guys who left the US, and living their life-dream there. 

10. Metal Leo, off YouTube.  Does video-walking tours of SF.  Highly critical of SF decay.

11.  Lex Fridman, off YouTube.  Half of his talks are science-related. High IQ  analysis.  

12.  Chris Williamson, off YouTube. Does 5 interviews a week....I'd say 3 of them are usually worth  listening.   I'd call him Joe-Rogan-lite.

13.  Uneducated Economist, off  YouTube.  Self-taught economist....working out of a lumber yard.  Takes complicated topics finance/economics...makes it simple.

14.  News For Reasonable People. Off YouTube. Real estate guy.....covers news affecting public.  Blunt criticism.

15. Ric Bender. Off YouTube.  Daily economy news.  Simple format....easy to follow.

16. Triggernometry. Off YouTube.  2 Brit comedians who actually do serious interviews. 

17.  Whats Going On With Shipping. Off YouTube.  Literally...ONLY stuff about ships/freight.  If you see some stuff about a freighter lost....tune over to this to find the whole story. 

18.  Dr Todd Grande.  Off YouTube.  Weird, weird, weird.  He examines the mental side of crazy nutcases.  

19.  1420.  Off YouTube.  Russian guy who does interviews of Russians on the street.  You might be surprised  how Russians relate things.

20.  Liz Wheeler.  Off YouTube.  Daily news analysis. Interesting pieces.

21.  Katie Hopkins.  Off YouTube.   Brit comedian.  

Political Chatter

 1.  At this point (spring of 2024)....CNN, CBS, and MSNBC look to be in serious shape.  A help in the summer build-up for mid-term elections?  Zero.

2.  President Trump has put tremendous pressure on California to build a voter-ID-requirement....if they want federal help to rebuild LA.  They need cash-flow by mid-summer, and this requirement....if accomplished.....would likely wipe out more than 100,000 fake voters.

3.  What does Florida's Governor de Santis do after November 2026's election?  Just betting....he's brought to DC to be the unelected House Speaker for a year.  (It is legal for the Speaker to be a non-member).

4. I will predict at least 20 Democratic-held House Seats and 5 Senate seats....go  to the Republicans. 

5.  Prediction: Greenland does not become a US state/territory...but they vote for independence and sign a major treaty with the US.

6. My prediction: the US quietly removes most  US troops from Europe by the end of 2026.  EUCOM headquarters is the only element left.

7.  I would put $100 up on a bet: Hunter Biden gets brought up on fresh new money-laundering charges.  

Dress Code While Traveling?

 Spirit  Airlines came out this week and said.....while you are boarding....if you are noticed as being inappropriately dressed...they won't board you.  They were limited on saying what inappropriate might might, and even said that tattoo choices....might figure into this.

The first flight I ever took....was the Nashville to San Antonio flight....for boot-camp, and I would suggest that 60-percent of folks were wearing 'going-to-church' clothing.  This was the summer of 1979.

It was along the late 1980s....when I first noticed inappropriate clothing styles (a flight from Miami to Orlando).....where several young women wore string-bakini tops.  

Over the next 15-odd years....it progressed.  

2010, I took a flight from Montreal to Frankfurt....with two women wearing pajamas (top and bottom), with flip-flops.

2013, I took a flight from Frankfurt to Dulles....where an  older woman wore a tube-top with marginal shorts on.

If you  asked me...is this mostly a gal thing?  I'd say guys I've seen on flights have pushed the limit just as much....wearing purely basketball shirts and trunks.

I was reading some commentary by a guy who noted that the recent  years have been this game by teenage girls...say age 13 to 15....who are attempting to 'out-tramp' their friends on the flights.

The sad thing here? Over the next six months....there's probably 300 folks who will reach the gate...ONLY to be halted and told...either change your clothing or miss the flight.

Necessary act?  Yeah.

Crystal Ball Gazing

 Ten things I see unfolding:

1.  On a wide-range....I see all of President Biden pre-emptive pardons being challenged (not just one at a time).  I think the Supreme Court will be shaking their heads because there's mechanism to cover imaginary crimes, if you have no court case or conviction existing.   

2.  I'll go ahead and predict that General Miley's court-martial situation advances, and that before it starts....he is likely to commit suicide.

3.  I'll predict before the end of 2025....Greenland has a national vote to advance the idea of being independent (not connected to Denmark or the US).  The vote will be something like 55-to-60 percent in favor.  Within a month, the US has a trade-agreement in place with Greenland given exceptional status (better than Canada/Mexico).

4.  Trump releases the JFK report, and it's leading back to the CIA and Mafia.  Oswald completely innocent.  Trump, by the end of 2025, will  identify the Warren Commission Report as a 100-percent fabrication. Oswald family?  Given a personal apology for what occurred.

5.  I think House Speaker Johnson's new J6 investigation....ends up with Pelosi being  identified as the cause of the original mess.  She resigns, and Trump pardons her....ONLY for the J6 mess.  Later, she's charged on insider stock trading....Trump won't pardon her for that.

6.  In order to help save around 100 banks from collapse....they are bundled up, and  these commercial properties triggering the mess....become gov't property.  Several gov't agencies in DC...are given orders to relocate (to  survive) into these commercial excess properties.

7. ActBlue will be declared a money-laundering operation, and a LOT of Democratic politicians will have a problem in paying fines...while knowing it was a money-laundering operation.

8.  Cocaine and various drugs....will have price escalation (doubling in a matter of two months) after Trump declares war on the cartels in Mexico.  By Xmas, the price will have tripled from  average in December of 2024.

9.  As a peace-treaty is worked out between Russia and Ukraine....the Ukraine expects NATO to provide 200,000  troops as the 'peace-patrol'.  Trump volunteers a maximum of 1,000.

10.  Barak Obama is divorced by the end of 2025.