Things I Now Believe Will Occur

 1.  November 2026....Minimum of 20 seats in the House flip to Republicans.  

2.  California....will find for the rest of 2025....no effort to cover fire losses with fed-money.  Trump will deny them funds until they agree to clean up voting registration and agree to some ID requirement to vote.

3.  We eventually learn that the total manpower (civilians and military) for Ukraine, lost in the war.....total over 600,000.  We will also learn that one-million Ukrainians living outside of the country.....have no desire to return..

4.  China will pursue 'selling' over 100 freighters to a Panama company....to avoid additional fees established by Trump for 'docking' at US ports.  We will eventually learn that while the CEO is an existing person....the seven board members are all non-existent.

5.  At  the end of twelve months of 'duty'....Marco Rubio is noted as the second most accomplished Secretary of State....in US history.

6.  Hunter Biden is arrested and charged-up (fresh and different charges).  The Biden-pardon goes to the Supreme Court....where by the summer of 2026...it's determined that it's non-functional.  At the conclusion of Hunter's case.....he's given a two-year prison sentence.  Trump pardons Hunter on the 30th day....if he admits all the cash flow to rest of the Bidens.

7.  This DOGE check that is often mentioned in the news?  Talked about at $5,000 a adult?  In the end....toward November (Xmas-season)....the check will end up being around $4,000.  It's more of a gift toward the Christmas season.

8.  Some California grocery stores start limiting customer entry by the end of 2025....to only customers with a active credit card. If you shop-lift....they will stop you at the door....charge your card, and add a $100 handling fee for 'lifting'. 

9.  At least 3,000 products will be identified as 'made in Mexico'....when in reality....they are made in China, and shipped with the 'M-I-M' stamp on the product.  

10.  The number two Trump-assassination guy will be shown to have made almost 100-percent of his income over a 4-year period....from Ukraine.  The organization paying him? I predict it will be related in some fashion as a USAID organization (charity-based).  None of this will make sense, unless you regard USAID as a friendly-criminal-front.  

Something To Ponder Upon

Columbia University went and did a pretty serious study....coming to this conclusion: ONE-HUNDRED-PERCENT of all teenage school shooters in 52 years were on an SSRI antidepressant medication.

Not 99-percent or 95-percent, or 90-percent.....ALL were on prescribed medication.

Path to violent behavior?  Yeah.  Homicidal thoughts?  Yeah.

Anything to occur now?   I doubt it.

Could Alberta (Canada) Become a 51st State?

 Well....there's a delegation of Alberta folks (non-governmental) who are visiting DC today, and talking over things.

To size up Alberta?  It's 2.7 times the size of Oregon, with a population of 3.6-million people.

Better positioned Canada province in terms of the economy?  Yeah.

Some US rule to allow entry?  No.  You'd have to have a Alberta vote....probably more than 70-percent of people....to get this even openly discussed.  Canadian gov't allowing them to leave?  I doubt that. 

But it's simply another sign that folks are fed up.

The 'Audio-Visual-Club' Story

 So....there in the late 1960s...at Bitburg Air Base (Germany).....someone noted that it was nearly impossible to get color TVs at the BX (AAFES).  To be honest, there were a lot of electronic gear that simply wasn't sold by the BX.

So....someone approached the Wing Commander and suggested that he allow the base recreational folks run a 'club'....audio-visual in design....to sell new gadgets.  He signed off, and in a matter of weeks....they had a demo-area set up and a couple of civilian spouses were sales-people.

Based on who is telling the story....in a matter of a couple of months....the BX  'boss' felt it was unfair competition (the base recreational fund was getting the profits....not the BX).  The wing commander didn't care....folks were happy, and consumers were getting what they wanted. 

The BX empire in Europe then went to the Air Force Headquarters and the four-star.   Again....it was unfair competition.  The general.....as the story goes....asked the BX why they couldn't sell the same gear....at  the same competitive price.  

By this point....most all air bases in Europe had a audio-visual club going on.

The BX  folks?  Well....they went into competition and tried to match wits.  It was almost like you had a bunch of 50-year old guys in management who could not recognize the era developing.   

So by mid-1970s....if you walked into a Ramstein, or Rhein Main....audio-visual  shop....you noted that they had a real LP section....a camera section....tons of stereo gear.  The BX folks....always 3 or 4 steps behind.

In 1978, as I arrived....I found the audio-visual shop at Rhein Main to be an interesting place.  Over a two-year period....I probably bought fifty albums. 

By the mid-1990s....the BX finally reached a point where they had the right people and the trend was in their favor.  The audio-visual clubs began to fade.

It reached a point in the mid-90s....in the vault I worked....that we engaged for about an hour about the competition fall-out, basic economics, and how the BX lagged so badly.

As long as you exist as a sole-source 'player'.....you don't care about competition, or developing new trends.  In the 30 years that the audio-visual clubs  existed....I don't think they had a real 'big-guy' strategy on trends....whatever came next, was simply accepted (they moved on).  The BX folks?  They couldn't maneuver that way.  If they did see a trend....it took a full-year to re-think the strategy....get orders in, and reach a new stage of competition.

As the BX maturity level evolved, and they erased the competition situation with audio-visual....another new era evolved....internet purchasing (Wal-Mart, Pennys, Amazon, etc).  

Around the 2008 era....you could guess that 50-percent of Germany-bound GI's were ordering and picking up via the post-office.  The BX had lost another competition battle.  

Retread TV Show Chatter

 I read today....Netflix intends to do 'remakes' of 3 1960s shows: 'Time Tunnel', 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea', and 'Land of the Giants'.

By early 2026....all three will start to show up.

So....from 'TT'....I've seen all thirty episodes.....one time only....from 1966, and I was addicted.  

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea....of the 110 episodes....I've probably watched forty of them.

Land of the Giants?  Of the 51 episodes....I've probably seen half of them.

Why bring these back?  I suspect they are running short of ideas.

My thoughts?  Well....I could see all three brought back....maybe eight episodes each, and maybe even lasting a 2nd season.  If you asked on my hokey-index....Land of the Giants never made  sense.

But I'd like to see Dark Shadows, and Planet of the Apes (the TV show) brought back.  

The 'Show'

 As a kid...I grew up in a time when local pro-wrestling on the TV every Saturday afternoon, and I tended to watch.  

In my later years (the Air Force era of 1981-1984)....I got cable TV in the barracks, and would watch Texas/Louisiana-based wrestling.  

It was always a simple theme....good guys versus bad guys.  

You needed a theatrical show....as realistic as possible.  The weirder the character (like the Great Kubaki, Andre the Giant, or Junk Yard Dog)......the more charged-up you got.

I look at the Trump era....as bringing in all these weird elements,  and  turning it into a evening show.....where you walk in....get through supper....open a beer, and turn on the TV to find out what Rubio has done today, or what Vance dumped on some poor CNN journalist, or what Kash said to the dimwitted MSNBC moderator.   Trump?   He's got a white board in the back of the 'stage' and  writing a whole week's worth of attention-items.....to keep you thrilled.

The Democrats?  Well....they've never encountered something like this.  There was the eight years of Obama, but they were mostly attempting this at one-quarter speed....throwing two or three highlights out each week.  Trump's crew?  They have probably sixteen highlights a day going on.

Appealing to black voters?  I can guarantee you....each evening....they are curious about what Elon has done....if Trump bashed Senator 'Pocahontas'.....if Vance has whooped Ukraine's Zelensky once again,  or if that Kash-guy has laid out the JFK-killing.

Democrats trying to get another theme or message?  It might take five years to figure out a strategy and counter this mess.  

Humble View of Trump's State Of The Union Speech

Five observations:

1.   If you were a media 'unit' (a news guy, a podcaster, a newspaper)....the speech wasn't for you.

2.  The content/theme?  It was for the farmer who'd lost respect Washington DC politics.  It was for the lumber sales guy who needed some dose optimism.  It was for the nurse who'd pulled a 16-hour shift and heavily disgruntled about bureaucracy in America.   It was for the hotel clerk who needed some morale-booster.  

3.  For the Democratic machine.....you need to find a theme/message/brand to deliver into the public that has nothing to do with anti-Trump-chatter.  You need to clear your agenda of present-day, and start preparing for a massive vote-problem in November of 2026.

4. At this point....no one remembers Joe Biden....he's ancient history.

5.  Social Security needs to confirm the dead people problem, and if 100,000 non-existent people are getting a check from them. Hint, there's a national ID card coming in six months....via Social Security, and you will have to present some real evidence of your ID.