When your children start asking difficult questions and still no continuation of the story.

 

Yes, I am going to finish the story and I know it will take at least 2 or 3 posts to finish it based on where it stands now. And I am not thinking ahead just guessing based on where I left off. The story will still remain honest to write in the moment theory.

 

Anyway for all you people who are looking for parental advice you have come to the wrong place. I am talking about the difficult questions.

My youngest (full adult) asked me what was my favorite record. The fact she knew record lets you know she knows how old I am.

She wanted favorite all time and I couldn’t even begin to say. So I said how about top ten, nope she says, favorite.

I still do not have an answer, but stumbling through my top ten or so here we go. Greatest hits albums and compilation albums are off limits. She didn’t nix live albums when I mentioned that, but still not sure if those count. And finally I added the caveat only one album per artist. I felt that to be fair because yes I could name multiple albums from various artists. I will let you know if it was close.

 

This is in no particular order and I do mean that.

Beatles Abbey Road, but Revolver was hard to put aside.

Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers, but Exile on Main Street is up there

Yessongs by yes

Four way street by Crosby Stills Nash and Young, not because it is a great live album, it isn’t but has all the right songs

(and the caveat goes no greatest hits so the two above may be taken away anyway)

Goodbye the Yellow Brick Road by Elton John, yet Madman against the Water is driving me crazy

Come On Come on by Mary Chapin Carpenter

Joshua Tree by U2

Reba McEntira’s Rumor has it

Any album with Beethoven’s 7^th Symphony mainly because of the 4^th movement (strange but true, I cannot immediately recognize it when it is played)

Dwight Yokam’s This time

Aqualung by Jethro Tull

Who’s next by the Who

Led Zepplin 4, yet Physical Graffiti is pounding in my head

okay this is 13 but I am still struggling with which albums and if we lose the live albums then I am back to almost ten

 

Well this is it for the moment, yet I keep thinking.

Greatest Hits honorable mention

Cream, America, Merle Haggard, compilation of Frank Sinatra, compilation of Willie Nelson, Jefferson Airplane, Gershwin, compilation of Beethoven and Mozart, Beatles 62-66 and 67-70 same for the Rolling Stones same timeframes, U2 also has a double set of greatest hits, Joe Ely has a greatest hit album that is great, multiple different Rod Stewart collections

And I know there is no Pink Floyd because I can only put them in a top twenty or twenty five and it will probably be Welcome to Machine or Animals which would also include Emerson Lake and Palmer’s Welcome back my Friends and King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King, David Bowie’s Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust or his first album, Jeff Beck’s Truth, Rod Stewart’s Never a Dull Moment and ugh

And I am sure more will come to mind when I quit thinking about it.

And if you have comments or other favorites don’t hesitate to leave them below, you may refresh this fading brain. And one other caveat, some of these albums were because of the time in my life they were released so I do not consider any of these technically the greatest albums because usually technically great albums are boring

Classical pieces can be hard to categorize, where do you put Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite? Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker?

And one song I have to mention because it is the type of song that just deserves to be mentioned in an honorable mention list somewhere is:

He Drinks Tequila by Lorrie Morgan and Sammy Kershaw and if you live in the American Southwest and don’t bust a gut listening then to quote a recent Judge, you can go pound sand.

Cheers

Another example of how the duopoly fails us, and sorry no continuation of the story today

I have been writing quite a bit lately, however none of the fun projects I want to work on. So I am not in the mood to expend creative power. Or is it just because I am lazy? You know the seven deadly sins such as sloth, throw in some pride and a sprinkling of greed and that is what the last couple weeks have been like. And does it matter if the greed is incremental and not exponential. You may have seen an X post where I addressed greed or sideways confessed it.  So if you see me in the confession line, please just say hi.

Anyway, let’s deal with the actual post.

So Trump wants to give Argentina a ton of money to keep his bud’s election prospects and then on top of it throws in we should buy some Argentina beef. And yes the U.S. cattle world found a way to complain about the policy yet still say the support Trump. How these people look at themselves in the mirror is beyond me.

How would this look different if there were no parties? Let’s use this beef conundrum for our example.

First most of the cattle world would still be conservative, still support the beef industry and still would elect maybe even the same individual to represent them in the House.

The difference is if the Representative was not beholden or forced to be loyal to a party machinery there might be some small differences in how the Representative votes.

Yes they would still support the agricultural industry, but maybe supporting more smaller and/or local businesses when it comes to writing tax breaks into bills. They might spend more time finding better immigration policy that strengthens our border, yet allows workers they need into the country.

They would not be required to blindly support the party leader just because they were the party leader or support other party priorities that might not benefit their constituents.

They would work on legislation that benefits their constituents, plus similar industries yet be able to compromise with other legislators to create more comprehensive budget plans and pass the full budget for example.

Their support of a president that promotes what Trump is doing in Argentina would not exist. They may still support the President, yet they would speak out more forcefully, call the President out and create legislation or work with the Executive branch to stop this decision.

The President not having the blind loyalty of the party would need to be more conscious of the various needs of the country and work with the legislators to do better for the country.

And when the majority of the country supports something then legislation would be written and passed.

For example since the majority of this country is working and middle class, that would mean most districts are primarily working and middle class and each legislator would be more reactive to those needs than party reliance on billionaire and lobbyist campaign donations. (on a side not since most see the need for campaign finance reform, we would have better campaign finance laws). Basically if each Representative relied on working in and within the community to get elected there would be less reliance on large donations and legislation would reflect the needs of the majority of the country. We would still have other problems like poverty, healthcare, the economy to address, yet it would be easier for conservatives and liberals to compromise or better yet write better legislation originally to help the poor or what else is needed because the people generally support these needs. The details would require the back and forth of compromise and planning, yet the wants and needs of the people are always front and forward.

So not having political machinery isn’t going to change much on the visible surface because we would still have conservatives and liberals and lunatics, but better on the results.

And for anyone that hasn’t paid attention the two party system is not part of the Constitution and even some of our forefathers warned us of the dangers. It seems awkward that someone that died over 200 years ago could say “I told you so”.

 

Go Mavericks, going to be an interesting year, strong interior defense and offense and yet perimeter question marks that if answered could mean a great year. If not then potentially an up and down year. And for those of you who don’t care, don’t watch. The NBA is underway.

Oligarch socialism? Socialist oligarchism? Not sure what to call it, but we sure as heck are facing it. And part three of the latest story.

 

And no I didn’t coin either moniker. Yet we seem to be facing a mashup of the two terms thanks to our infamous “tech bros” and some people trying to cram crypto down the Trump’s administration throats.

Historically we view socialism as the government running the means of production to bring fairness to all and hopefully lead to communism where we all share in each other’s labor and there is no need for government. I will pause now so you can stop laughing and catch your breath. Utopian societies abound throughout history, yet none come to fruition much less last.

Socialism from Merriam Webster dictionary: any of various egalitarian economic and political theories or movements advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

So wait, isn’t oligarchy something completely different and the answer is almost yes.

Oligarchy from Wikipedia: is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Leaders of such regimes are often referred to as oligarchs, and generally are characterized by having titles of nobility or high amounts of wealth.^[4][5]   (Merriam Webster’s website let me down on this one)  It did offer examples, synonyms but no actual definition, strange?)

Look closely, some entity controlling the means of production to achieve a stated goal. For socialism it is defined as for the larger good, but in practice it created totalitarian states. Oligarchy by general definition is the concentration of wealth into a small group of individuals that in turn use that wealth to run the government.

So now all the wealth in the world is concentrating in a few tech leaders hands, and by creating all this technology they are slowly if not rapidly lately consolidating all means of production in their hands either directly or indirectly.

Just think about it a second, almost all what you do at work comes from a few technology companies, almost all you do outside of work is influenced or is obtained through a few technology companies. And what isn’t soon will be if you look at the current trajectory of growth. Add in the emergence of crypto as a way to hide money right in front of us and do you really think we have a chance of an independent life anymore.

All these technology companies have all our information, it gets stolen regularly by people using crypto to buy and sell it and we are left wondering what the heck is happening. And our government(s) who we rely on to protect us, are contributing or subjugated to their growth and consolidation of power.

So whatever we want to call it may not matter anymore, unless we find a way to in a last ditch effort to pull back on what they can do with our information, their influence on our government, and figure out a way to create a new market environment that reduces the influence of these select few. And oh yeah our government leaders are getting rich off of these exploits. All in all though our entire planet is moving towards control of all our lives by this select few. They may not hold any titles so to speak, but you can guarantee they are pulling the strings on what goes on.

I still think there is time to reign this in, but we need to move fast, find leaders to challenge their relentless attack on our personal lives and put the people first, not the few.

The so called facists are just a vehicle for these tech bros to consolidate power why we moan and groan about people like Trump, Putin, Orban, and more, well Xi Jinping may be in more control of China than the tech bros can overcome, but still he will be immersed in their group since he can control China so well.

Don’t believe me or think I am paranoid or a conspiracy theorist, sure think that way, but honestly you need to step back and see the whole picture. This is much further along than we want it to be.

Anyway some frightening thoughts for all you individualists and libertarians so you better get going and for the rest of us, time to catch up to the fire right in front of us.

 

And now for part three of the story:

 

So the first mortal went to bed that night a bit angry. The priests were the ones who were supposed to know the Gods, the ones that helped the people worship the Gods, the ones that facilitated life to please the Gods. And now the priest he spoke to didn’t care and worse wanted him to have the strength of a God just to prove the Gods were dead.

And he got no sleep thinking how much he didn’t want to go back. He was frightened the first time, but something had bothered him long enough to inspire the first attempt to climb the mountain to the Gods. He kept wondering what had happened. And he found out. And no one cared. His friend, the priest both seemed put off by his attempts to find out.

He wondered is this everyone. And he thought it must be if I am the only one that cares. Why would people not want to know what happened. Everything we have comes from the Gods, or at least that is what the priests told us for so long. Family after family shared this with their children, this is the way it had always been.

Finally near dawn he fell asleep tired from his thoughts so he did not get up very early. He debated if he should wait another day to go to the mountain. He had his knapsack, but there wasn’t much. Maybe he should try and get more food before going. Or was he just avoiding the whole thing?

He decided he wanted to know, but needed more food. Now there were only two days before he had to work. He thought long and hard, made no decision so had to wait until the next day to go. He did acquire a bit more food from some meager funds he had stashed. He used half his savings if you could call them that.

The next day came and went. He did not go.

He went to work for three days and now he had a whole week off. He thought about it again.

Finally on the second day off work and what seemed an eternity from when he saw the final battle he arose early and trekked off to the holy grounds that led to the mountain of the Gods. He bought rations on the way out of his village that lay on the outskirts of the city since he had eaten some of what was in the knapsack while at work.

He arrived on the plains of the Holy grounds still early enough to cross with plenty of daylight. He arrived near the base of the mountain and looked up. Did he want to climb today? Or again was he afraid? He looked around. There was one of the temples somewhat near by. He went to it. Should he pray? Should he make an offering just in case?

He decided to keep his food, said a quick prayer and headed towards the mountain. Like last time he started up the mountain at dusk and climbed a bit more. He found the small cave he slept in and laid out his sleeping blanket like before. This time feeling a bit more confidant his sleep would not be disturbed by the Gods finding him and throwing him down the mountain to die, he slept well. He was definitely very tired. It had been a long few days.

The next morning apprehension filled him again, but he gathered himself and headed up. He followed the path previously and this time it dawned on him. He was following a path. Who used this path? He examined it more thoroughly as he walked. It wasn’t overrun, but it wasn’t fresh either. How long did it take for foliage and time reclaim the land and the path disappear? He didn’t know, but thinking about it and continually observing the path’s wear helped him to past the time. Before long he reached the crest to the top. He hesitated. 

What had happened before? What gave him the courage to go over the crest and see what he saw. He stood there listening. Was he hearing something. Strange it sounded like horses running on the plains. He froze. Was the battle still going on and not all the Gods have died?

He slowly peered over the crest, just sticking his head up high enough to see with his eyes. He relaxed. It was horses running. There was a few running back and forth near the crest. He breathed.

They were larger than the ones he knew from down below so he figured they must belong to the Gods. He wondered were they left to their own devices. Or were they being taken care of? But by who?

He climbed over the crest and sat on the edge staying low and next to some bushes to stay concealed until he got a better handle on things.

More than a few moments passed. He finally stood up. The horses were still running around, but they had slowly distanced themselves from the crest. He headed in their direction. And this time since the Gods were not battling he had time to look around. Last time as soon as he crossed the crest he witnessed the fight, then the lovemaking then the simultaneous murder o the last two Gods. He knew from the temples it was the King and Queen of the Gods and heard the words they spoke to each other as they fought. Once the lovemaking started there were no more words, just moans of pleasure, then the yell from each as they shook from their pleasure and then the stabbing with the swords.

Now all of a sudden it dawned on him the bodies were missing. Where did they go? If there were no other Gods shouldn’t they be lying there on the plain rotting like a mortal body would. Well maybe not since they were Gods. Maybe their bodies magically disappeared or something and would not rot like a mortals.

He stood still. Finally with the horses getting further and further away he headed to where the two Gods last lay. He stood there. The distant rumbling of the horses and a slight breeze whispering in his ear was all he heard. He continued to listen. Nothing changed. It was still day which made him look around. The daylight was the same as in his village and on the plains of the Holy Grounds. In fact most everything was similar.

There was the rocky crest with scraggly bushes he sat by. There was this large field or plain he was now standing in with grass growing throughout. And like the plain below grew to his mid calf. He never understood why it never grew taller, but it didn’t and now the grass here on the mountain was somewhat similar, not the same but similar in color and texture.

And far off was another mountain or mountains coming out of this plain. He stared hard to determine if it was more mountains or just part of the same line of mountains he was standing on.

And then, his memory kicked in. He needed the sword. And now with the bodies of the Gods gone, were their swords gone. He looked around the plain near him. Nothing. Now the ground felt softer and the grass was flattened in the area where he remembered the Gods to have fallen, yet there were no signs of the struggle, no torn clothes, no swords, nothing that would suggest that recently a great struggle had occurred. He tried to remember how large the Gods actually stood. Maybe twice his height, maybe a little less. He couldn’t put his finger on it since he watched in shock.

Now in the full daylight and nothing to see for quite a distance he wondered did he actually witness their deaths?  And he thought, what if they aren’t dead. That would explain why they weren’t here. He got scared and ran back to the crest to sit amongst the bushes hoping to be hidden.

He stared from his perch for quite a bit. Finally hunger took over so he ate a bit, all the while watching.

It was the scream that came first, or was it a screech. He froze watching intently as best he could without even moving his head, hoping not to be noticed. Then he saw the bird. It was huge, as big as the Gods circling over where they had lay. It flew down and landed and like an animal not a bird starting sniffing the ground. It stopped and looked around. It spotted him. He could tell because the bird looked at him intently, yet not moving towards him either.

Finally the bird raised its head and screeched again. He stood still hoping that maybe he was wrong and the bird was not seeing him. That screech was horrifying and he did not want to find out what this was all about. He did not know how fast the bird could fly. He was at the bottom of the crest and it would probably take him a moment to get back over. His fear kept him still.

The bird still looking at him, tilted its head and screeched again, but this time less menacing. The bird started walking towards the mortal. Did he have time to get over? And what happens next? Would the bird follow him and attack him on the way down the mountain. There wasn’t much to hide in. The mountain was mostly rocky terrain with vegetation clinging to the rocks. That was the path, the rocks with little vegetation covering it. He knew he would be exposed.

He knew the trees on one side of the plain, but was too far at this point he figured to make a run for it. The bird kept walking.

Finally the bird stopped tilted its head again and this time spoke. Mortal it asked why are you here?

To be continued

Not sure where to head on this Sunday and more story blogging (part 2)

 

Some of you might be aware on occasion I release a podcast, just random madness similar to this blog. Every now and then I think I should spruce it up and add music. If I ever decide to pry open that little bitty wallet of mine and find a dollar to two I would pay the copyright fee or whatever you have to do to add some. My idea would be to play Ten Years After’s “I’d love to change the world”.

And I would use some of the music and let the refrain appear: “I’d love to change the world, but I don’t know what to do, so I’ll leave it up to you.”

Or just might use it as the lead in, who knows, yet I have always like that song. Another song came to mine this morning was Elvis Costello and the Attractions’ “What’s so funny about peace love and understanding”. And after pulling up the lyrics were they more prescient then that we first thought or are the lyrics just timeless. Y’all can debate that amongst yourselves.

Yet I also thought it would be fun to post a link to the song on “X” and see how much it triggers MAGA. Then I became a better person and realized you cannot lump MAGA as one group of the crap that gets posted on “X”.  This is me practicing what I preach against. We cannot point fingers because that just fuels the fire of us versus them that is destroying our country right now.

MAGA isn’t the hate filled and/or lie spewing world of Catturd, Laura Loomer, Guenther Eagleman, Janice what’s her name and certain members of Trump’s administration. They are just the loud voices that fuel problems and discord. Most of MAGA are everyday Americans who for a variety of reasons supported Trump in 2016 and then doubled down on him as time went on. They are working class Americans felt left out first by the Democrats then Washington itself, they are people who watched too much Fox and became baptized by its demonization of Democrats, some mid Americans and Republicans who were fed up with Democrats demonizing them by pretentious elitism, in 2024 who were burnt by the inflation of 2020-2024 and didn’t hear a viable plan from the Democrats to solve a problem Donald Trump so easily (and falsely) attributed to them. There are more of course, yet the point is MAGA is not primarily some easily grouped together lump of people that are the hate filled monsters you see on social media.

Of course the same goes the other way also, most Democrats aren’t pompous clueless elitists, just people seeing problems facing them and looking for an alternative to the hate filled world of social media. They just prefer leftists ideas.  I am not a big fan of left wing economics, yet it is easy to see why people are swayed by them when you see the wealth gap, the diminishing education, the concerns over social security and the cost of healthcare. Democrats don’t have the answers, but they definitely have the verbiage.

All that aside I decided not to post on X that wonderful song by Elvis Costello and the Attractions at the moment, yet I still might hoping not to trigger MAGA, but to encourage people to rethink their world.

 

I am about to get to my story, but first as some of you know I am Catholic so writing about “Gods” on a Sunday feels a bit sacrilegious, yet hey God knows the truth. So to balance my brain, here is today’s first reading which also goes along with wanting to hear the song What’s so funny about peace love and understanding. Things just work sometimes:

From the Prophet Habakkuk 1:2-3;2:2-4 “How long oh Lord? I cry for help/ but you do not listen!/ I cry out to you, Violence!/ but you do not intervene./ Why do you let me see ruin;/ why must I look at misery?/ Destruction and violence are before me;/ there is strife, and clamorous discord./ Write down the vision/  clearly upon the tablets,/ so that one can read it readily./ For the vision still has its time,/ presses on to fulfillment and will not disappoint;/ if it delays, wait for it,/ it will surely come it will not be late./ The rash one has no integrity;/ but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.

And yes the song popped in my head first, then the better half showed me today’s readings. Strange but true.

 

And now to part 2 of the story. As mentioned I just post and go so now this second part is well just what comes next.

The first mortal was confused. He followed his friend home to his house. He watched as his friend placed the stone onto the growing fence. His friend had been working on this for seven cycles of the sun. Now he was proud that it was half way done. Sometimes he would bring two or three smaller stones, but mostly they were the larger ones, heavy to carry. He was very particular though on which stones he choose. Sometimes taking a whole day to find the right one. It was his fence though and it was his home so he wanted it to be just right. When he started he had invoked to Gods help him. Yet even then the Gods were not part of many people’s lives.

Once the stone was placed they ate and shared wine. His friend toasted to the Gods then laughed saying I guess I don’t need to do that anymore.

The next morning the first mortal went to the Priests. They were no longer at the temples on the dividing ground. They all had moved into the city and built temples there. Now though not much went on. The priests still celebrated on the holy days, but mostly they sold wares in the marketplace to survive. No one gave to the temples. Well a few did, the most devout of the worshippers still attended the temples, but it was a small minority of the population. The priests were left with earning money like everyone else to eat.

He went up to the largest temple and asked the guard to speak to the priest. The guard looked at him quizzically. No one really wanted to talk to the priests anymore. He had been a guard for as long as he could remember. A long time ago, he would receive tribute to make an appointment to see the priests, now he went with the priests to help them sell in the marketplace.

The guard asked the mortal what he wanted. He said it was of dire importance and the priests needed to know immediately. The guard brushed him off. He tried persuasion, yelling, guilt all to no avail. The guard couldn’t care less.

He went to the next temple and encountered the same scenario. A guard who didn’t want to give him an inch. The third temple was just the same.

He was tired and frustrated. How could no one care about the Gods anymore? They were the creators, the power over all, the dispensers of justice, blessings, riches, and punished the wicked.

Then a strange thought hit him. If the Gods are dead, who is doing all that now? He looked around. He decided he really needed to speak to a priest. He had many questions about the Gods. It was late so he went home to sleep. It was now two full days since the Gods had died and nothing really changed.

The next morning he headed to the marketplace hoping to run into a priest. And he did. He did not recognize the priest at first, mainly because he was dressed in clothes like himself, not the usual robes. It was only because the priest was arguing with someone about the price of something that the customer yelled I don’t care if you are a priest, I will only give you so much. The priest eventually acquiesced and took what he could get. The mortal approached the priest.

I beg to have a word with you he said. The priest looked at him incredulously. It was bad enough to have to sell in the marketplace, but to be hounded by someone who was not going to buy anything was worse. The priest looked at him waiting for him to go on.

He told the priest what had happened. Well he left out many of the details, but said all the Gods are dead. The priest laughed. That cannot be true. I am still a priest of the Gods so they are alive.

I beg to differ said the mortal. The priest said, well if you think you are so special to go to the land of the Gods, which I doubt you did, then bring proof of their demise. The man remembering the fear he felt when he first went thought about letting it go. If the priests didn’t care, why should he? And was he sure. He was lucky not to get caught the first time. And even though he felt sure the Gods were all dead, it was frightening to think about going again. Not only that it was a long climb up the mountain to get there.

The priest was angry this mortal just stood there thinking. He barked at him. Either go bring proof or leave me be. I have things to do, meaning he needed to sell more so he could eat. The priest then asked for donation to the temple. The mortal looked at him. He had no money. He barely had food at home. His work was sporadic like most people’s. Everyone in the city struggled except for a very few.

The mortal knew he had the time to go since he wasn’t going to work for three more days. He asked the priest what proof do you need? This made the priest pause. What proof would be needed? It actually occurred to him that if the Gods were dead this changed everything including his position in society. Sure no one had money, but he still could command certain favors and attention in the temple, on the holy days, at weddings, funerals, his place in society would be put in great jeopardy. He realized he needed to know if the Gods were dead or was this person mad.

He asked for one of the swords of the Gods. The priest figured that if a mortal could get a sword then the Gods were truly dead. The mortal blinked. He saw the two Gods kill each other with their swords. The Gods were huge so were their swords. He wasn’t sure he could bring them down the mountain.

He asked is there anything else. The priest thought for a moment. No, it must be the swords. Now the priest wasn’t thinking about the size, but did say do not bring them into the city. Just bring them down to the bottom of the mountain and not on the holy grounds. The priest had immediately realized he wouldn’t want anyone else including the other priests to know just yet.

The man went home and ate a small dinner. He packed the rest of the food he had into his old torn knapsack to journey with tomorrow and slept.

To be continued

It’s been a long time since I rocked and rolled, well sort of…

 

Never hurts to have a little Led for the head every now and then, but this isn’t about rock and roll.

For years I would occasionally write a story within my posts. This wasn’t very often, but I created a few short stories that basically went nowhere except they had a start and finish and were fun. Basically I would take any wild idea that hit my head write a few paragraphs on what I felt at the moment and then in the next blog post would add to it, not necessarily with a plan. I would reread what I wrote previously and just pick up where I left off creating the story as I went. So over four or more posts some semblance of a story existed. There were even a couple I liked and if I ever want to spend some time I could go back and edit them and see what I have. Actually somewhere in lost computers over time I think there is one story I tried to polish up so to speak.

Recently I thought about asking readers to give me ideas to start another one. I say this because years ago at work someone that knew I try to write gave me an idea for a story. Just a one sentence thought. I actually finished that and have made attempts to edit and publish it. As of right now, no luck, but that story is much further along in my short stories than what I wrote in this blog. Now there are other short stories where I also made effort and am trying to get published also, but looking back at them they need work. Right now, though in my hazy and lazy days I am working on four books simultaneously with two working drafts on my computer where I actually spend time putting words on a computer screen. One of these days I may get ambitious and really finish them up. Yet I thought it was always fun just to write away with absolutely no path in advance, just sit and type and see where the words take you. Again, I thought about asking readers for ideas, but while thinking about doing this again I was reading another book when an idea sort of popped in my head. The idea shocked me because it is not something I would usually entertain. And since it is not something I would usually entertain, I am going to story blog it.

Again, the rules are no set ending, no real rhyme or reason for what is about to happen and over the next few blog posts on whatever topic I write I intend to add to the story until it finds its own conclusion. I will reread the previous post then just add to it based on where my thoughts for the day lead me. So without further ado, here we go:

 

The two Gods stood face to face. Years ago they were loved as the leaders of the Gods. They were married, celebrated by both the Gods and mortals alike. This was the before times. Now the war of the Gods had boiled down to the two of them. They didn’t remember why the war started, just that they were what was left of a grand epoch where rule over the mortals was blissful, quiet, serene and entertaining. The mortals were created to serve the Gods, but also so their petty lives would be theatre. Over time and these two Gods definitely couldn’t remember why jealousy, the pettiness they enjoyed watching permeating through them, boredom maybe took over their world.  And over time these emotions grew into hate between the Gods and they destroyed each other in a brutal war that destroyed their world. Now since the mortals were given their own world it remained. The Gods so consumed by their war had forgotten about the mortals and over time left them to their own devices so the worship of the Gods had become ancient stories. Except for one mortal, who being curious had climbed up into the world of the Gods to find out what happened.

And with this backdrop the two remaining Gods faced each other with overwhelming levels of both hate and love bubbling up inside them.  They had once loved each other unconditionally, now for reasons they no longer knew they hated each other with the same level of intensity of their love. Yet for a brief moment the love came back and they made love so passionately the ground shook, the mountains felt the shudder of them together, the waves of the oceans overwhelmed the shore and at the height of their passion they stabbed each other and both feel apart dead.

The mortal wasn’t sure, but looked around and so no other Gods. Still on unsure footing, legs shaking noticeably, the smell of death in the air headed back to the world of the mortals.

As he walked along the plain that had been holy ground, the ground that separated the two worlds of mortals and Gods, where the temples were once bustling with humans bringing sacrifices to the Gods of food and wine, where the people worshipped and praised the Gods, now lay half in ruins, still standing at this point, but the finer trappings looted, the walls cracked, the doors gone, the statues either broken or toppled over he ran into a friend of his from his village.

The mortal was rummaging through the ruins looking for stones for a wall around his house he was building.  The first mortal ran up to him and exclaimed the Gods are dead, the Gods are dead. The second mortal looked at him curiously. Sir, what concern is it of yours about the Gods. The Gods have not bothered us forever.

The first mortal was ecstatic, no it is more important, they are dead, completely dead, I saw the King and Queen of the Gods kill each other. He didn’t say what they were doing when they killed each other.

The second mortal now carrying a stone he hoped would work, told his friend. Come home with me, let us drink some wine and relax. Do not worry yourself over the Gods, and whatever you do, do not alert them to the presence of us mortals anymore. It has been peaceful, no one needs to bring sacrifices, the priests are all gone. We live in peace.

The first mortal seemed disheartened. He had witnessed something well was it terrible, wonderful, unimportant or the most important news ever, yet his friend was disinterested. How can something as important as the Gods being dead not matter anymore?

To be continued

Government shutdown: are they really trying and here is a quick proposal

 Yep once again the government is shutdown and quite frankly it may be for awhile. As always I hope I am wrong, but how many of you believe they are actually working on this or are they just stuck in the mud.

Yes I hear people on the news saying they are still in DC, yet mainly it is just finger pointing to the nth degree.

They tried for a continuing resolution CR at one point and hopefully they are still working on that even if just kicking the can down the road. So let’s do something a bit different to give us a framework for a real budget.

So if we get stuck with a CR until a full budget can be worked out why not reduce current spending levels by 3 percent for all aspects of the government, yet all agencies must meet all statutory obligations. The executive branch would have to spend the money, correctly of course, already allocated by Congress. The executive branch could not make unilateral changes that affect what has already been determined. And to offer a compromise in the CR, the tax credits for the ACA be guaranteed for all of next year except they are reduced by two percent as a way along with the 3 percent reduction for the budget to show some fiscal restraint on spending.

Also some executive orders may need to be backed out or legislation enacted to prevent executive orders from overriding a real budget. Which would mean certain members in Congress would need to acquire some intestinal fortitude to do what is required of them. Sad that they have so relinquished their responsibilities that doing their job is not foreseeable.

This opens the government again, puts some restraint on spending since this is only a CR and hopefully if the members of Congress find that intestinal fortitude they might be able to work out the full budget.

Just a quick proposal to reopen the government and hopefully show certain members of Congress they can do their job with a bit of effort. It would be nice of course if they can actually accomplish all this in the current environment. I doubt it. The hate machine is more important than the people of this country right now. 

Does Democracy die today? And the pretentious clueless “left” is still clueless.

 

So where do we go from here?

Is this meeting with all the military brass just show and show? Or something that gives Pete Hegseth’s ego an arousal and now he has to share it with his boss?

Or is it worse as some fear? A complete capitulation of our military to the most inconsistent tyrant on the planet. Well he is consistent about greed and hate, but what exactly is he looking for in trying to take over this country? Millions of conspiracies out there, yet is any of it true. I fear some of his minions aren’t minions and they have definite plans.

Something will happen today, but what? Hopefully this just turns out to be a very large nothing burger, but that is nowhere guaranteed.

And oh, by the way the government may shut down tonight. Another nothing burger or more in the disaster Trump is leading this country? Or more opportunity to further destroy our country our constitution, our values and us? Again, the most inconsistent tyrant running.

 

Have you noticed the plethora of podcasts coming from a variety of left wing podcasters espousing all sorts of Trump is bad verbiage? There are quite a few now, all begging for subscribers wanting to get to so many hundreds of thousands or even a million and to hit that like button. And all saying more or less the same thing; Trump is bad, Trump does bad stuff, we need to get rid of Trump. Yet do they even have a clue what happens next?

Tons of perceived scandal after perceived scandal, quoting the mainstream news, screaming they have the receipts filling our streaming channels and wherever else we get our podcasts with massive hyperbole that Trump has to go. Well he does, yet do they even know what they want afterwards. Are they still thinking America will buy whatever drivel the national democratic party will cook up or really rehash?

Our government is about to shut down for the umpteenth time in the last fifteen years because the duopoly is failing us. And the Democrats keep thinking they have an answer for our future. No they don’t. They have a word salad of pandering comments and a paragraph of public policy. Don’t believe me or better do not want to believe me, just go back and look at their campaign promises for the last four elections. They say the same thing, we are here to protect you from the boogeyman Republicans, we need to have universal healthcare (affordable, how?), we need to raise the minimum wage (cause we are fighting the wealth gap?) we need to fix social security (saying for years, but no concrete idea on how and I have put more ideas in a couple of previous posts then they have in forty years) and a couple of other items. And for some reason they think this will win votes.

The failure to enact any of these promises has been bleeding votes away from them since Obama. Unfortunately because we are stuck with the duopoly it sent those votes gift wrapped to Trump. Even when they do well, they cannot get out of their own with way how they present themselves. The people they needed to win the 2024 election had no idea that post covid inflationary was transitory so when they started bringing it down they failed to communicate exactly how things were working. They spent so much time telling us how bad is Trump that they didn’t communicate well how the economy works. And so Trump in his one talent (bragging) convinced millions he knew what to do. And because the duopoly has failed us for so long it didn’t take much for Trump to do this because Americans have been wanting for someone to tell us the answers for a long time. Everything they heard from Democrats and Republicans has never come to fruition except tax breaks and for some god awful reason, too many of the middle class think tax breaks for business are good for them without an iota of proof except the economy hadn’t collapsed yet.

So if the midterms occur, will the Democrats finally learn they need to move forward, get creative and present new leadership? Or will we even have midterms? Or will we be stuck with the same self serving aggrandizement in 2026 and instead of Trump destroying this country, democracy dies the death of a thousand cuts and it looks like we have had about 500 so far.

Or will by some wild chance or the grace of God, people realize we need new leadership, new ideas and elect either a revamped current party or new parties emerge that actually think about and enact public policy for the vast majority of this country and the United States continues to thrive.

And for those few remaining country club Republicans who don’t support Trump and who think we must put business first, sorry to say, but nope. A thriving working and middle class will do better for business than tax breaks and wealth hoarding. It is time to conserve our values and our people, not our mindsets.

It is just about 8:30 central time. What will the next 24 hours bring us? Let’s hope tyranny isn’t smiling by then.

No cheers today

 

And I haven't watched or heard the news yet today so this could be moot or too late. lol

Don’t you love it when mainstream media recognizes the situation and still gets it wrong?

 

Or I sure as heck got that going on.

CNN published an article on cnn.com titled: “See the five types of independents that have big implications for American politics”

There are four authors listed at the top of the article and on the surface tries to paint a pretty good picture of independents in this country, yet only comes up with five types of independents as the main point.

And as I say, independents are now the largest political group in this country over Republicans and Democrats. They break the independents into five categories starting with “upbeat outsiders” I start with this group first also because of this statement from the article:

Upbeat outsiders are the most likely of our five groups to say a major reason they consider independent is that they agree with Democrats on some issues and Republicans on others. More than half also say that distaste for the two parties is not part of why they call themselves independent. Most of them (group called upbeat outsiders) land as true independents who do not lean toward either party. Those who do lean are slightly more Republican than Democratic.

Two points here, one is most of this group which represents 22 percent of the total of independents. (be careful, not 22 percent of the population but 22 percent of the group the authors identified as independent). I break them out with this sentence for two reasons. One the majority of the 22 percent say they are true independents and two the ones that lean, lean Republican.
I wish they had asked not if Republican or Democrat, but if conservative or liberal. This is a minor thorn in my side so lets move on.

One of the main reasons for this study was to determine what are swing votes now and they came to the conclusion what in recent historical context were swing voters, no longer exist. This I have been saying in the wrong way for too long.

I keep harping on independents as independents knowing we aren’t swing voters anymore. I just never clarified the distinction in my posts.

The group I want to touch on the most is what they call the disappointed middle. This is the group most of my public policy is trying to reach. This group says they have voted for a third party or independent candidate previously and seven in ten say the economy is an important issue for them. According to the author’s study and methodology this group makes up 16% of the total of independents. I think this may be incorrect and I wish I knew how they did the questionnaire for the whole study.

A good proportion of the study the authors listed as Democrat lookalikes and Republican lookalikes and for your benefit the Democrats ran 24% to 16% over the Republicans. My question is why aren’t they Democrats and Republicans so again I question why didn’t they use the terms conservative and liberal for the questions, yet I don’t know what their questionnaire looks like to criticize this point.  And on a side note, you can call me out because I say most Americans are closer to the center or center right than liberal which goes back to my conservative and liberal terms versus using Democrats and Republicans because the two parties right now will feel the effect of how people feel about them currently.

Another group or the final group is the checked out group. And in my thinking they are actually part of the disappointed middle, but more so, hence the concept that they are checked out and again this is the group I am trying to reengage with my public policy ideas. If they thought someone was fighting for them they might become engaged. According to the authors 9 in 10 of this group says no one in politics speaks for people like them. And this helps to emphasize why I say we need new parties.

They know they need something new, but mainstream media and current social media blocks rational outside voices. The mainstream media whether left or right doesn’t want the competition and social media is so filled with hate, conspiracies or finger pointing, it just turns them off. This paragraph is my thoughts.

One other tidbit is that half were younger than other independents.

Now this post is a super condensed version and what I consider important discussion of the article so take that with a grain of salt, yet if you go back and read through the whole thing I think I have touched on the main points of some of the problems.

First we still label democrat against republican instead of saying liberal and conservative which is why I think the two lookalike groups are misnomers. Second the majority of the country is independent which states the two parties are not reaching the majority of this country. Third quite a large percentage of this country is ready for something new. And so many people are checked out because again no one is reaching out to them.

On a side note, the end of the article touches on methodology,, but does not include a copy of the questionnaire or at least one I found to click on.

So finally people keep asking me why do we need new parties, well this study touches on it, but doesn’t go down the path of saying how do we reach these groups. My answer as you know is we need something new. And on occasion I say if you completely overhaul the two current parties you can possibly achieve my goals. Otherwise with the entrenchment of the parties elites that isn’t going to happen so we need to remove the requirement we live in a two party system and move forward.

The duopoly has failed us. This study by showing you can identify independents and begin to break them down into categories touches on my ideas the parties are failing by not just reaching out to them, yet more importantly not offering them better solutions.

There is much to discuss here and I touch on it throughout my posts, yet I am glad this study was published because if you can see how the duopoly is diminishing as political forces then you can begin to ask yourself what do we do different.

Cheers

What is your transition temperature?

 

I debated for days what to call this post, when in reality it isn’t that involved. Okay maybe not days, but at least from last night. We got to make sure we stick with facts nowadays.

And for those of you who don’t know, today is the first day of the State Fair of Texas, three weeks of food, food, food, and none of it good for you, fun, fun, and very expensive fun nowadays since rides and midway games are out of control on pricing, exhibits, exhibits plus more things you never knew you wanted to look at and finally some pretty good entertainment throughout the run of the Fair including football and music mainly. And oh yeah, some animals, lots of animals with a cacophony of smells of both, well animal poop and wonderful food, sometimes hitting you side by side as you walk depending on where you are in the Fairgrounds.

Go and have fun.

And now back to the post. Wherever you live there is a temperature, maybe a small range depending on the season it will feel cool or warm. For North Texas that ranges is the 60’s (Fahrenheit of course). When you head into fall sometime around October or November the temperature will hit the sixties and it feels cool. Yet come February or early March it will warm up to the sixties. And yes, it feels the same temperature technically, but this is the range where the previous season affects the feel of the temperature more so than the actual temperature.

And again this may be different for where you live. Yet there is a temperature that is the transition temperature. Even in Texas in the summer the 80’s and even the 70’s are still warm. Of course hot is 90 plus. In the winter the fifties still feel cool even if it was thirty the day before, yet if it starts climbing into the 60’s you see people pick up their step, that jacket begins to be carried or wrapped around their waist. In October you start to see sweaters on some people when the temps start running into the 60’s.

All strange but true. Why is this important? Well it isn’t, but the State Fair is here, fall is coming, and yes I know the first day of fall was earlier this week. This is Texas, fall is still somewhat a ways off.

Or you can just ask yourself what is this country’s transition temperature because we need to get out of the current climate we are in right now. At what point does enough “regular” people get tired of the hate and want to do something?

 

Cheers, go enjoy a corn dog, dust off your eggnog recipes, shop for that pumpkin, and drag out those fall clothes. The seasons are a changin’ and the times need to change.

Life, liberty and the anti pursuit of hate

 Latest podcast is live

https://youtu.be/9dV6JGJjR2s

Cheers

Don’t do that

 

I don’t know what it is, men don’t know what it is, and women certainly don’t or they wouldn’t do it.

It seems and it doesn’t matter if it is your Mom, sister, girlfriend, wife and maybe even your daughter sometimes, but if a woman says to a man don’t do that, the man’s brain starts contemplating doing it. Whatever the woman said may have been light years from his brain, yet as soon as she says it, the brain goes hmmmmm.

And it may be something the man knows is not good for him or is ridiculous to even think about, yet as soon as the words are spoken the man is now in a brain lock. He now has to fight the temptation of doing whatever it was that was spoken. Sure many times it is overcome quickly and the man moves on, yet there is that one moment, that one second where the action is now front and center in the man’s thoughts.

And the more inherently rebellious the man is, the more he has to fight the urge. Think about teenage sons, the most rebellious time in a person’s life. And then think about how hard it was when Mom said don’t do that. It was pure hell not to do it. The remainder of the day was spent thinking about what you were going to do next or trying to figure out the consequences of doing it. Common sense is something we should all strive for, yet when a woman says don’t do that, common sense is a battle for a man.

And women never seem to realize that horrible truth staring at them when they say it. Again a man may not have anything resembling that thought in his brain, but now.

So women as a favor to yourself, think before you say. What exactly is your husband doing and why do you feel the need to say don’t do that. Is he really about to walk outdoors naked or is he just walking to the other side of the bed? Did he really just pull out that shirt you hate to wear or was he looking for something? Did he really tell someone that you told him in secret or was he talking to himself. (men do talk to themselves and more so when they get older).

And yes men do crazy things without thinking so yes you do need to keep one eye open around your man 24/7, but don’t jump to conclusions about his next action. You have to make sure you have a full grasp of the situation before you act. Or your worst thought may just come true.

And don’t be surprised when you ask a man what he is thinking and he says nothing. He literally may be not thinking. Or he has gone so far deep into a rabbit hole, he is not sure anymore. And men can go deep into rabbit holes mainly because we think linear. So going down step by step is pretty normal for a man. He isn’t looking peripherally when going down a rabbit hole. He is taking it down one thought at a time. So if he looks pensive and you ask and he says nothing, it may actually mean nothing.

Sure I have had women tell me their thoughts go from one concern to another at a rapid pace. Women comedians will tell you these things, but before you ask your man remember, he may not know or is so far down he just doesn’t want to admit the light at the top of the hole is very dim and he can’t get back out without just forgetting everything. Let it go.  I know women this bothers the heck out of you, but save your sanity and just let it go.

You may want to have a conversation with your man. Sure very valid want, but don’t try when they say nothing. Start a new topic, find something fresh to talk about. Help him get his mind back to the surface by not pushing so you can enjoy speaking with him.

I can’t speak for women because I have no idea how to keep up with their thought process, yet I thought I would share a couple of thoughts so you can avoid a frustrating conversation with the men in your life. Don’t say don’t do it, don’t ask what are you thinking unless you have given him very specific things to think about and now need an answer and be happy when he does pay attention. Positive reinforcement never hurts.

Cheers

What America got wrong about Charlie Kirk and what Charlie Kirk got wrong.

 

I am going to write a sentence that will be met with a resounding duh.

Charlie Kirk is an American. Well duh

Peel back a couple of layers of the onion and Charlie Kirk is an opportunist. An opportunist in the truest of American opportunists. He admits it in his first book:

“Because there were people out there before the organization was formed, you could say I didn’t start Turning Point; I found it and made it available to others.”

Yes this doesn’t exactly say he was an opportunist, yet he is saying I knew there was something to be had and I was going towards it.

And just a few pages later he admits to how lucky he was in getting Turning Point started. He does admit that luck is part of the game. And this, his first book, was written four years into the growth of Turning Point.

Mr. Kirk also opportunistically has quite a bit going for him. He comes from a family in good financial shape, maybe not rich, but strong. He is good looking to many. He is smart. He picked a side. And that folks is very important in America. And once he picked a side he went full throttle. Even in his first book he tries to resolve the side issue when he writes about ending the game between team right and team left.

He cannot end the game. He is thriving on the existence of the game. He jumped in and openly defined his side is the correct side and the left is the enemy, the wrong side.

As regular readers know I pretty much think of many leftists, especially in the Democrat leadership, as clueless elitists. Mr. Kirk doesn’t use this verbiage, yet he recognizes it and attacks them on a point by point basis. And for many Americans who were tired of being told what was right and wrong such as political correctness, yet also a host of other nuanced attributes of people on the left looking down at certain Americans Mr. Kirk’s recognition resonated greatly with them.

The same Hillary Clintonites that would use verbiage like flyover states and call MAGA deplorables heard what Charlie Kirk was saying. I am on your side and our side is the right side. These people want to destroy you, take away everything you can have because they don’t believe in you.

And for young people who didn’t feel respected by the current elitist culture, this felt like a wake up call.

Americans like being on a side. We, through our history, want to be the good guy. It is engrained in us through all sorts of media until 2010 when there were only people telling us we weren’t good anymore if we didn’t behave a certain way, talk a certain way, express ourselves in a certain way. Many Americans were more ignorant than the left realized and Charlie Kirk tapped into that like college kids used to tap a keg.  Their ignorance wasn’t their fault. It was the elitist liberals who bred ignorance to develop a control over the attitudes of the country. Charlie Kirk recognized this and exploited it in a different way.  

He came across too many as a hard working American that understood what America was all about. If you didn’t have the opportunity to live the American dream there was something wrong. And he was going to bring back the American dream.

And yes he was hard working. To create the organization and do the things he did, he definitely had to work hard, no doubt. He had luck. The timing was good for someone like him. Think of all those who have come after him. Mimicry is a great form of flattery.  He formed a massive grass roots and social media movement simultaneously. He merged the old way of American culture with the emergence of the new.

Americans who disagreed with his words, never accounted for his actions. You do not get to where he did by just one path. He embraced everything that came his way and found the right people to help him.

And he relentlessly attacked the other side. If they did something right, he found ways to twist it where it didn’t sound like it was for you, that those programs would fail you because they weren’t meant for you. He was good.

He encouraged people that it was okay to have controversial views, even if those views were antithetical to the values of equality, equal opportunity, all men are created equal. Sure he said his vision were those things, but if you weren’t on his side this wasn’t for you. You were the one hindering the view points of his tilted values. The left was against you. The fact the left is clueless only validated his view points.

Charlie Kirk was successful and that is about as American as you can get. What Charlie Kirk said was not always the American values he said he was preaching. He picked a side and married it. And by doing such he hurt America. He made others pick a side.  “Proof me wrong” yet it was said in a small box he created because in reality there are thousands of different nuances to what is going on with an individual’s life, a culture, a country, this world.

You can pick a side, but that does not mean everything your side does is correct and the larger the game the less successful using only one side’s tactics will be for the game and even your side.

Charlie Kirk says he offers solutions and some sound as American as apple pie. He believes in small government, the free market, he shared his faith, yet in practice he chose to say it had to be his view point, that taking on questionable values was okay if you practiced his side. He became the face of a large movement. He rose in the ranks of the modern conservative culture. He espoused what the rulers want to hear. He brought millions along with him. As with anyone in any world that does not make you better than any other, the modern conservatives tend to love to elevate people into lofty positions in their minds to justify believing in demonizing others. They want to hear the other side is bad because their lives are broken and they need to blame their brokenness on others. And in most cases their brokenness is there because of many reasons. The problems stem from them self, ironically Mr. Kirk says they can overcome it on their own, it comes from society, it comes from a lack of faith, (many people say they have faith, yet when they turn inwards something turns back on them), it comes from a culture that no longer has values or values what is superficial and more. Yet this brokenness exists and for young people starting off in the world being told that things are all right helps.

Right now America doesn’t want to know how bad are things. They want to hear things are great so they can continue to play their video games and not worry about the next paycheck.  Charlie Kirk tapped into that with a vengeance. And nowadays that energy is contagious. People do not want to expend it themselves, but when someone on their side does it works for them.

Obama tapped into the same energy with the youth of this country in 2008. “yes we can” resonating with young people on the left just as strongly as Charlie Kirk’s proof me wrong does with the young on the right. Young people want hope, both offered it for a moment.

Tomorrow will be another day. There will always be someone who will take advantage of opportunities presented. Charlie Kirk’s message ended abruptly and horribly. No one should die unnecessarily and he did. I can read what he said and see where he was coming from. It does not mean I agree with everything he said, yet I do agree with we need a smaller government, the markets should be allowed to work and I share my faith a bit. Outside the bubble though those words are not enough. To share your faith people have to respect it, to say we need smaller government when there are injustices in the world is not understanding why even our founding fathers created our government. The market is great until just a few people control all of the market. Nothing is an absolute and when you pick a side you lose half your solutions.

Charlie Kirk tapped into a need of this country. It wasn’t the right need, it wasn’t the wrong need. And he did say much that was just as damaging in a different way than the clueless elitists that tell us how to think. People will disagree and okay that is what it is truly all about.

I am not going to pick sides and that is one reason I do not garner the following of someone like Charlie Kirk or others. Charlie Kirk tapped into a need that cried we are lacking energy, direction, purpose and he gave it to some. And he picked one side to express his thoughts on these needs.

Charlie Kirk was wrong not because his side was wrong, he was wrong because he was a visionary for a movement, yet not a visionary for what is truly needed. He espoused ideas and policies, but that wasn’t what he was about. He was about painting a rosy picture to create the same false illusions all people of movements do.

Neither Democrats or Republicans are ready for when Trump passes away

 

This touches on being a follow up to a post I made a few weeks ago, but this focuses more on what happens with each party after Trump.

Or what lack of policy will not be enacted.

The Democrats still have their one page word salad and their pandering to different interest groups. They say things like universal healthcare, raise the minimum wage, tax the billionaires, etc, but never flesh it out to see how they are going to accomplish it all. I post more in this blog with more substance to some of my ideas than the Democratic party does across it’s entire spectrum of representatives and candidates. They love their message. They have no idea how to enact it.

Do they have a post Trump plan? Hard to say when half their messaging is Trump is bad and Trump is stupid and Trump gotcha posts. If Trump were to peacefully pass in his sleep tonight the Democrats wouldn’t know what to do. And would have a good chance of losing in 2026 and 2028 if any Republicans figured anything out.

Now the Republicans aren’t ahead of the game either. The infamous RINOs will try and retake the party, yet how successful will they be? And what happens to MAGA? Does it splinter into multiple factions? Or do they get lucky and someone rises to the top and takes the mantle? And this seems very unlikely. Vance isn’t as popular as the people around Vance would like him to be. Will a normal power play between Vance and Rubio break out and one of them starts spewing something close to rational political speak?

Or will the whole house of cards come tumbling down and all the extremists carve out different audiences fracturing the whole country even more? Imagine ten different Fuentes all vying for attention. Will they offset each other or create more monsters?

All this and more is possible. Somebody in the Republican party needs to start building coalitions or all hades will break loose.

And the rest of Trump’s cabinet, staffers, aides, hangers on and Congressional allies will have nowhere to go but low. Miller, Noem, Bondi, Kennedy, Johnson will lose standing quick once Trump is gone. My fear is Andrew Vought will find a way to survive since his real goal is Project 2025, not Trump, so he probably has some post Trump plans. The rest of the lot, not so much. 

Trump’s economic agenda will lose steam faster than ice thrown into boiling water. So what happens to fightfest 2025 at club MAGA? What sycophant will survive? Bessent? Pulte? Lutnick? Or?

And think about the “influencers” or whatever they want to be called. Bannon? Jones? Fuentes? Rogan? Who else? Do they still garner millions of views? Or do they fade away also?

And with all this Republican mess, who gets all the worthless crypto in the divorce?

Will the Democrats fill a void when the Republicans implode? Or will they continue to talk down to America, lecture us, and demean the MAGA population in general, completely forgetting that these are Americans also. (which they claim Trump does with their groups).

The hypocrisy of both parties is completely different, yet it is so bad that both parties have huge holes to climb out of if we ever want to get this country back on track. They finger point, say votes are wasted if you vote independent or third party, the parties run the primaries based on messaging only, not allowing fresh voices to arise, and all the while claim everything else is evil, yet doing nothing about the evil and incompetency that permeates their own party.

Now I am not a fan of either party so my hope is that when Trumpism fades, independents finally realize they need to get going and rebuild both parties or create new ones because the current leadership in both parties is a complete failure when it comes to representing the people and by the looks of it, aren’t ready for a post Trump world.

And let us hope that all this happens before July 04, 2026 so we can have a real independence day birthday celebration and welcome the world when it comes for FIFA’s World Cup in North America. Am I asking too much?

 

And since the world is coming next summer, let’s learn a bit.

Salud!

Cin Cin! Saluti!

Sante´!

Prost!

Saude!

Kanpai!

Geonbae!

Gan bei!

Nuo nke oma!

Fi-sih-tik!

Serefe!

And so much more

Cheers!

Why aren’t independents angrier?

 

I am at a lost.

 

First of all today I am supposed to be working on something good, something positive, yet I keep getting distracted by my thoughts on how far we have fallen as a country. I do a bit of volunteer work and for some of what I do I have to prepare. So as I was trying to prepare I just kept thinking about why the effort. Maybe I am feeling a bit melancholy. Or am I in a funk? Or is it because it is a cloudy day and the end of summer. I prefer spring and summer so who knows. Anyway though, I am distracted from doing good because I just don’t understand why we are where we are today.

 

I am not much of a facts guy, yet the facts don’t paint a pretty picture. I tried getting a snap shot of how the US has done in education since 1975 and what I found was there is no standardized ranking system since 1975. I did find these interesting facts since 2000.   

Overall: U.S. students have consistently performed about average in reading and science but below average in math on PISA tests since 2000.  PISA stands for Programme for International Student Assessment. (yes programme)

So is this important? Well when it comes to making America great again or some other nonsense it should be. We are average among developed nations for 25 years. That to me sounds like we aren’t doing what we should.

And we all know about the debt ballon:

The U.S. national debt rose from $533 billion in 1975 to $35.46 trillion by September 30, 2024. This represents a substantial increase, with the debt surpassing $1 trillion around 1981-1982 and growing significantly in the decades that followed due to increased government spending. 

Or how about the deficit each year and honestly this can be looked at in two ways. First the debt straight up or compared as a percentage to GDP either way it gets interesting.

Now I found charts from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, yet to copy and paste them onto a word document becomes cumbersome. You can search for them using the resource mentioned, but generally show there has been some years in late 1990’s and early 2000’s and mid 2010’s where we had a slight surplus, but we don’t get to 36 trillion in debt without some disaster years. All in all, without taking an academic deep dive into it, hard to say what all this means except we are currently in a deep pile of doggie doo doo.

One of the left’s biggest bugaboos is the wealth gap:

            The wealth gap in the United States has been a persistent issue since 1975, with significant changes in distribution over the years. The top 1% of Americans have seen their share of wealth increase from 17% in 1990 to 26% in 2022, while the middle class has lost its share of wealth. The bottom 20% have maintained their share of wealth at around 3% over the past three decades. The total market income for the top 1% averaged $3.4 million in 2021, compared to the bottom 20% who have seen their share of wealth remain at around 3%. The wealth of the American middle class has changed, with the 60% of income earners between the top and bottom quintiles having seen their share of wealth diminish since 1990. 

U.S. Senate

 

            NEW STUDY: Nearly $80 Trillion Redistributed from the Bottom 90% to the Top 1% Since 1975

• March 4, 2025

 

So why am I throwing out unrelated facts?  You can always pick and choose facts to make any  point or can skew the conversation to make facts sound good to your audience, yet when you really just look at it, in the above metrics and more we aren’t improving as a nation. Go to wages for the middle and working class, review how many people vote in our country, you can find upteen amount of lists to review, yet nothing says gold star.

So why am I bothered by all this noise? It is because time and time again Democrats and Republicans tell us they have the answers. And have they? Sure you can manipulate facts to make you sound good and I have heard many times Democrats say we balanced the budget in the 1990’s. When the reality is we had a booming economy in the 90’s that was attributed to the beginning of the growth of the internet. Many new types of businesses were born. This had more to do with government surplus than any Democrat public policy.  Republicans will say then cutting taxes for businesses is good since a booming economy helps our budget, yet when Republicans have cut taxes business doesn’t take off and we run deficits.

What does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

Let’s talk messaging.

How many times have you heard that tax cuts benefit the economy?

 

How many times have you been told that all we need is to do these two or three things like increase minimum wage or universal healthcare and everything will be okay?

 

And honestly those aren’t bad ideas. Yet they are weak in a vacuum. To really change the trajectory of this country it is going to take work. It is going to take comprehensive public policy that addresses an inordinate amount of issues. There is no quick fix, yet our illustrious two party system wants you to believe if you would just listen to my side ignore the other side then everything will come up roses. It doesn’t.

Both sides vet their candidates to make sure they tow the party line, their message in elections fits the narrative that they think will win votes. It doesn’t even begin to cross the rubicon and look for what are the best policies. It is all about the message.

And the messages are getting old, and have never been enough.

So some people think rank voting in primaries will help. Nope, because it is still the people the party has chosen to be in the primary. There is no new message much less new policy much less new actionable items to help us all out. Again nothing for the “all”. Just messaging to fire up the base so they come out and vote in the primary. And once they vote in the primary you have the candidate who best represents the party line, not you.

And then there are those that think we should have term limits. That is democracy on whatever is the opposite of steroids. Term limits is laziness. Voters are responsible so they should get who they want, not be held back by people who are incompetent. The two party system has made us want term limits because we won’t do the work to vet the candidates, look for fresh ideas and expect our representatives to represent us. And term limits will not solve the problem as it stands since the parties will still have candidates that tow the party line, just new names.

The original framers of our country and constitution had no idea where politics were going to go, yet I am sure, they would be horrified by what politics has become. Many even warned against political parties and their fears have come true. It is more about the party than it is about governing.

So as an independent are you angry yet? And even before I made this paltry effort to get you angry how did you feel?

Folks it is time to rethink what is before us. The duopoly of Republicans and Democrats no longer are effective in governing this country. Over fifty years ago, our two party system did create a somewhat balanced view of governing. Some days we needed conservative thinking, other days we needed to be more progressive. Yet a sense of civility and pride allowed both parties to respect each other. They still were not close to good, but they managed. Now the hate, the partisanship, the finger pointing, the lies, the incompetence dominate Washington D. C. and do not allow any intrusion into their world.

We need new leadership, new parties and new ideas to move this country forward. The government on paper, the Constitution is still the best going for mankind right now. We need to bring back the values, the principles, the ethos of our founders and update it for the 21^st century.

As regular readers know, I prefer a center right public policy tilt to what needs to be done, yet whatever we can bring forward that doesn’t rely on the current messaging from either party, but brings forth new energy and actual public policy that benefits the country as a whole, I will listen. And no, socialism and facism are not the answer.

Respect, hard work, policies that benefit the mainstream are the answers. The Republicans talk about the importance of business. Yes we need a strong economy, but the truth is that comes from the people participating in it more so than the rich getting benefits. The Democrats talk about all these feel good policies, yet have no idea what this country can afford and what actually works, but want to tell us over and over again what is bad. No one responds to lectures. No one responds to being left out of the game.

 

Yet we let both parties run over us, saying we waste our vote if we don’t vote for their side. My statement to them is we have wasted our votes for far too long.

Are you angry yet?

 

It is time to change.

 

Cheers

Dallas Cowboys comments, predictions and other Dallas Sports thoughts

 

Dallas Sports Headlines:

Two great players, two horrible trades all in one year. Sheesh, yet for one team…..

 

Will the Dallas Cowboys make the big game?

Hope springs eternal, yet we aren’t in spring, this is fall and that is what is going to happen, the Cowboys season is going to fall.

So no big game celebrations in Big D this year just like for decades now.

In fact I will venture the question will the Cowboys have a winning season. They might scratch one out, but both the offense and defense lines are the key and well.. go back to that two great players headline and we might struggle on the defensive side. The offensive side is an interesting situation. Is it truly revamped or is that Cowboy preseason hype?

Time will tell so unless it is truly revamped and stronger a 7-10 season is a high possibility, but let’s have fun, throw in a tad bit of spring for these dog days of summer and hopefully they will go 9-8. And maybe just maybe 10-7 and a chance at the wildcard game. After that, there just isn’t that much hope in this spring to go further.

I will finalize my prediction at 8-9 and hope I am wrong as heck and the left side of the ledger is a rising number.

And speaking of the dog days of summer, those red shoe Rangers are hanging in there. Tough series with Houston coming up, but a long win streak or winning  the various series even if 2-1 for most before end of the year and they have a good chance.

Once they get in I am still at a bit of a loss. Their inconsistency is weighing on me, but since this is baseball lets stick with spring and hope and say they go at least a playoff series or two. Definitely an exciting and nail biting September coming up.

 

And for that first disastrous trade, the Dallas Mavericks may still have a chance. Everyone in Dallas still thinks a better chance with Luka than without, but at least the Mavericks came away with some luck and received some potential for the year. Flagg will make rookie mistakes, that will be inevitable, yet with help, good player development coaching and some luck the Mavericks could go far. We will discuss further in October.

As always I admit I am a casual fan of the Dallas Stars so we will look into it a bit more come October also. It is always fun when both the Mavericks and the Stars are running side by side in the playoffs come spring.

 

And if Trump doesn’t screw things up, we are looking forward to all the World Cup action next summer. Hopefully we can get into a game or two in that large monstrosity of a stadium in Arlington.

 

Cheers all

Happy Labor Day

 

To all those who make our country great. Yep since this is a service economy all our labor is working to make ends meet on this glorious holiday to celebrate those who can afford not to work.

 

The irony is lost on those in Washington DC though.

 

Truly we need to let the people who labor enjoy this day. Maybe we should shut down all the retail stores, convenience stores, restaurants etc and let the people who work enjoy the day. We could all get our foods for grilling, gas for driving etc just by planning ahead one day.

 

It is good some get the day off, but we should work to give all the day off.                                                                                                                                           

 

 

And thanks to a Tumblr reader who reblogged on Tumblr last year’s post. Today’s is the elevator speech version. lol