Tag Archives: political decision making

Why does it have to be so complex?

It appears to me that oftentimes, our government needs assistance in making prudent decisions. If we apply a little common sense and practicality to some of these situations, life for the politicians, and for the public, could be made so much easier and better. For example:

War in the Ukraine

Who does not want to stop the war in the Ukraine, other than Vladimir Putin? I believe we can stop that war in 2 months without sending one more bullet to that war zone. How? It’s really quite simple. All the U.S. needs to do is to start pumping the hell out of our roughly 200-year supply of petroleum reserves. This pumping would lower the price of petroleum on the world market, thus taking away Putin’s primary source of income to continue his invasion of the Ukraine. There are numerous accounts of Russian soldiers leaving the battlefield because of not being paid. By cutting Putin’s money source, there would be less soldiers (who wants to be shot or die for free?), less fuel for military vehicles, less money for bullets and rockets….in other words, Russia could not afford to continue the war without financial ruination.

Think of the positive ripple effects of pumping our own oil. The price of gas would go down. More jobs would be created in the energy industry. Our economy would be stimulated by actual business and economic progress rather than being stimulated by government handouts. We could supply our excess energy to Europe to break their dependence on Russian oil. The currently threatening railroad strike would not have as much economic impact, because we could use our pipelines again. (This would upset the Oracle of Omaha, because his gigantic stake in Burlington Northern is profiting immensely from hauling oil!) And… maybe Joe Biden could afford to replenish our strategic oil reserves at his own expense! After all, doesn’t Hunter Biden have a seat on the board of directors at Burisma? Burisma is an oil consortium located in the Ukraine. So, Joe has juice in the petroleum industry. This would offset his strictly stupid, political decision to use the U.S. strategic oil reserves to lower the price of gas by 2 cents before the midterm election. And maybe, just maybe, the oligarchs in Russia would find their cajones to overthrow Vladimir Putin, and get their mega-yachts returned.

Common sense tells me that there is at least a half dozen ‘positives’ for pumping oil. None of this will get done, however, as long as the democrats are in control. It would make too much common sense and go counter to the Green Deal.

Climate Change versus Environmental Protection

Let me help all the woke-wonks determine the difference between climate change and environment protection. Here it is. Mother nature and the rules of the universe will forever and ever be responsible for climate change. Man does not have one iota of impact on climate change. Man does have responsibility for environmental protection, and we have done it for decades.

Let me begin with environmental protection. Do you have a catalytic converter on your car? Of course, you do. In America it has been required of car manufacturers for decades. The purpose was to reduce harmful emissions entering the atmosphere. A similar requirement was placed on factories. There has to be ‘scrubbers’ on all smokestacks. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has gone to great lengths to keep our rivers, lakes, streams and air free of pollution. We plant trees and create green spaces. We even believe that electric vehicles are the answer to environmental protection. That issue requires more discussion. But the U.S. has gone to great lengths, and has spent billions of dollars, and required industry to spend billions of dollars to protect the environment. The problem is…. many other countries do not do one damn thing to protect the environment of Mother Earth. No catalytic converters. No smokestack scrubbers. They are even cutting down the Amazon rain forest. That rain forest alone supplies a high percentage of our oxygen, and yet they are cutting it down at an alarming rate. What I am saying is that the other 190+ countries need to get on board with environmental protection. The U.S. has taken measures to protect our country, but we are not capable of protecting the whole world.

Sorry woke-wonks. Climate change is beyond the capability of man. Currently there are two volcanos erupting in Hawaii. What if these volcanos spewed enough ash to put a black cloud over the entire planet, and that black cloud would block the sun for two years? Well, it already happened over 500 years ago. The end result? A Little ICE AGE! Yup. People starved and froze because of low temperatures and because the crops would not grow. This event is well documented in Europe. How would man control that? Did you know that the Sahara Desert was at one time a tropical forest? Yup. It became a desert because the axis of the Earth shifted in relation to the sun. How would man control that? There was one volcanic explosion on this planet that spewed more noxious gases into the atmosphere, than all the noxious gases released by automobiles since the invention of the automobile. Yup. How does man control that?

There are going to be years when our summers are hot, and years when our summers will be cooler. There will be years when there will be more ice formed in the Arctic, and there will be years when Arctic ice will be melting. How would man control that? Make ice? Two issues come to mind: 1. How could man change any of these events? And 2. What exactly is going to be done with the trillions of dollars that our government wants to spend and has spent on climate change?

I absolutely cringe when I hear about the Green Deal, or by proposals to spend another trillion or two on ‘climate change.’ Why do I cringe? I cringe because I think this whole climate change and Green Deal crap is just that…. crap! I believe this whole issue is a way of bilking the American public out of monies which eventually end up in pockets or reelection campaigns of dishonest politicians. The idiotic woke-wonk public will buy into it, because they think we need to prevent climate change. Do you remember when Obama was POTUS, and $4 billion was granted to a solar company? I do. That company went out of business within 9 months of receiving the money. What happened to that money? I am not aware of any government investigation to determine what happened to our tax dollars, or of any effort to get the money back. I am irritated seeing Al Gore expounding climate change and eliminating fossil fuels…. while he is getting off his private jet. He made millions by forcing companies to buy ‘environmental credits.’ What happened to that money? As far as I am concerned, Al Gore is a dipshit that ought to be walking…. right to prison. Purchasing ‘environmental credits’ was just a way of extorting money from business and industry.

I would dare say that a proposed spending bill for climate change and the Green Deal, after being loaded with political pork, would be similar to the amount of money spent on benevolent projects by the late Clinton Foundation, about 4%. Through the use of grants, loans and contracts to unscrupulous contractors, I would say very little money really gets to its intended use; and much of the money finds its way into pockets and campaign coffers.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk has suddenly become less popular than a prom queen with acne. With the Green Deal, Elon was mister popular because he owns the most successful electric EV) company on the planet, Tesla. The liberals loved him. And then, Elon did two things that have absolutely placed him in disfavor with liberal woke-wonks.

Firstly, he bought Twitter and fired practically all the woke-wonk employees that were exercising censorship. This censorship was largely against positive conservative conversations or against any negative liberal conversations. For instance, no tweets were allowed that had anything to do that was negative about Hunter Biden. (Executive woke-wonk Mark Zuckerberg has admitted the FBI contacted him about not allowing negative Hunter Biden posts on Facebook prior to the presidential and midterm elections!) But Elon has stated he is going to change the business climate at Twitter to allow free speech! The liberal press is going wild, as is the White House. Last week, the White House stated they are thinking about investigating Twitter. Really? Why? Apparently, it is against White House and Democratic party principles to have some right-leaning executive own a media source.

Secondly, Elon brought disfavor on himself with the following statement, “If the 2024 election were held today, I would vote for Ron Desantis.” OMG! No censorship at Twitter! Voting for a Republican! In the liberal mindset, this man needs to be destroyed.

Be cognizant of what the White House and the liberal media will do to destroy Elon Musk, or any of the Republican presidential frontrunners in the 2024 election. Sorry Elon. No date to the prom for you.

(Please excuse me for using the term woke-wonk excessively through this blog. I am a baby boomer and have lost track, and don’t really care of the names of the generations that followed the baby boomers. So, rather than saying, ‘whiney entitled liberals that have their heads up their asses,’ I thought woke-wonk would be more appropriate. Amen.)

Common Sense? Where did you go?

Grandma P and I were fortunate in completing a 15-day Alaska cruise in August. The scenery in the 49th state is phenomenal. It is the cruise everyone should take. Our cruise aboard a Princess ship was exceptional, as always, except for one issue. We were still required to wear masks in public areas. And anyone who tested for covid was isolated in a deck 12 balcony suite. (This was not a perk as they could not leave their rooms for the entire cruise!) There were some cases, but the number was very low. Maybe 17 cases with 2200 people on board. I will not go into the draconian measures the cruise lines have to perform if the rate exceeds 1% of the total number of people on board. You have heard of some of them, cruise ships returning to port, cruise lines canceling cruises, cruise ships being sanitized.

Of course, all these draconian measures were to assure the public safety. In the past two years, the CDC and the US government could not do enough to sledgehammer the cruise lines into governmental compliance. So, with this little story as an introduction, here is my question. If for the past two years the government is so concerned about Covid, why are we letting illegal immigrants across our southern border with an estimated positive Covid rate of 18%. 18 frickin’ percent! If the government was so concerned about Covid and its effect on the citizenry, would they not have stopped a mass introduction of the disease via illegal immigrants? Does that display common sense?

College Tuition Proposal

Don’t you just love it when your government makes you feel like an idiot? What I am referring to is the proposal for $10,000 in student loan forgiveness. Was I an idiot or what! I worked parttime during my college years, oftentimes holding two parttime jobs. When summer break occurred, or any break between semesters occurred, I went full time. I ran out of money after my first year of college, and even though my parents could have contributed some, I did not want to ask. Call it pride. Call it stupidity. Call it parenting that taught me to be independent, but I paid for myself and completed by college experience without a loan. During my college career, no one went to Florida, Mexico or the Bahamas for spring break. After all, if you were a male and flunked out of school, you could visit Viet Nam for free for at least one year, all courtesy of the U.S. military.

I am not totally opposed to providing $10,000 in loan forgiveness. As a matter of fact, I would encourage it under the following conditions:

  1. The money is granted for income earning degrees. Teachers, nurses, doctors, dentists, business majors, etc. If your degree is Greek Mythology, Basket weaving or underwater bird calls, you don’t get it. Talk to your parents about bad choices.
  2. Colleges reduce tuition. Yup. Quit overpaying professors that teach three hours a week and quit building buildings that look like chrome donuts. Put the money inside the building and not in the building.
  3. Double the cost of obtaining a law degree. We have to many damn attorneys and many of them become bad politicians. Just look at our Congress.

But what provision is made for those attending vocational schools, where every program is an income earning profession? Have you hired an electrician, plumber or carpenter lately. I hold my breath that nothing happens to one of my vehicles for fear of what it would cost to repair, with such a huge shortage of auto mechanics. Not everyone is cut out for college or wants to go to college. And, as mentioned, many college degrees are a big waste of money. Here again, just look at Congress. How many members of Congress can you name as the ‘best and the brightest’ in the land? Maybe a handful, but there are 535 members!

It is about time that the younger generations that think everything should be handed to them should learn two things: 1. Your parents are paying for it. 2. The working public is paying for it while politicians are attempting to buy your vote with these ludicrous proposals! Don’t you find it interesting that high school and college students are predominately liberal, but once they get a good paying job and pay taxes, they become conservative? The chickens come to roost, but unfortunately a large segment of our population has figured how to get another chicken’s eggs for free. Common sense. Nothing is free!

Illegal Immigration

Apparently, all those attorneys that are now in Congress never read the chapter about the ‘definition of the word illegal.’ If you smile and smirk every time you hear about another group of illegal immigrants being transported by the governors of Texas and Florida to a blue state, I know you are a Republican. But here is the irony. The federal government and some blue state attorney generals are attempting to find a way to stop the governors from transporting those illegals. Okay. I have a sure-fire solution to this problem…. STOP THE ILLEGALS FROM CROSSING THE BORDER! Much like the gunfighters at the OK corral who ran out of ammunition, the governors would not have illegal immigrants to transport if they were not there. Case closed. Common Sense. But yet, not enough common sense to protect our borders. Wow.

Civil Liberties

By now, everyone is familiar with Derek Chauvin. Derek Chauvin was the 19-year veteran Minneapolis police officer that was sentenced to 22 1/2 years for violating George Floyd’s civil liberties. Chauvin was an experienced policeman that knew George Floyd and knew of Floyd’s physical capabilities. So, I would love to hear a response to this question, “If someone is deliberately breaking the law, are they not relinquishing their civil liberties?” After all, isn’t a crime, regardless of what it is: robbery, murder, rape, passing counterfeit money, all uncivil acts? I think Chauvin should have been punished, but not by a kangaroo court, televised, in an extremely biased location. And, did not George Floyd perform an uncivil act by passing counterfeit money? He broke the law. The shop owner thought so and called the police. He did not call a politician, or a lawyer, or a Minneapolis city councilman…he called the police. And the police, as is their job, responded. What kind of society would we have if the police did not respond. What kind of court system do we have that blew off the fact that Floyd had two illegal substances in his body and did not die by suffocation, as determined by the Hennepin County Coroner. But the die (pardon the pun) was cast, and Chauvin had to pay, and the Federal court had to step in to assure he received the maximum punishment by charging Chauvin with the violation of George Floyd’s civil liberties. Common sense tells me that George Floyd surrendered his civil liberties when he performed a crime and he killed himself by being drug addled.

It has been a bad year for the police in Minnesota. Do you remember Kim Potter? You will when I tell you that she is the suburban Minneapolis police officer who was reaching for her taser during a traffic stop and instead pulled her gun and killed a young black man. She is serving two years in prison after being charged with first- and second- degree manslaughter. In the heat of the moment, she made a fatal mistake.

But is justice always equal? If justice were truly equal, why is Alec Baldwin footloose and fancy free after making the fatal mistake of shooting and killing an actress on a movie set. He made a mistake. He is free and no one has gone to jail for the death of Halyna Hutchins.

I hate to draw comparisons on these three crimes, but here it is. Both of the victims in the Minnesota crimes were black. Both officers involved were white and are in prison. Both crimes received national attention. Alec Baldwin is white as was his victim. After a large media bomb, it has gone away, and no one has been punished for the crime. Why is that? Did the two police officers receive disproportionate sentences because the victims were black? Common sense fails to answer that question. But common sense tells me that because of the staffing issues with police departments everywhere, the caliber of the people applying to be police will be lowered. Did you know that police from the suburbs surrounding Minneapolis will not pursue law breakers into the City of Minneapolis for fear of being arrested themselves.? That reality provides society with a demented type of law protection. Egads!

Common sense tells me that these major cities better pull their collective heads out of their asses, and support the police, arrest, prosecute and incarcerate criminals and protect society. Isn’t that the principal purpose of government?

PS. My blog site was offline for over four months. My Houston nephew finally broke the code to get it operable. This blog is dedicated to Al from Hutch who convinced me to get off my Polish ‘dupa’ and write a blog. Good reading, Al.

Magicians or Politicians? Who is Better at ‘Slight of Hand?’

Have you ever seen a really good magician? I mean, a really, really, good magician that leaves you wondering, “how did he do that?” (I’m not being sexist. It’s just I have not personally seen any female magicians. I am sure, however, that the very attractive female assistants are wholly involved with the act. Women are devious that way!)

Have you seen that trick where someone from the audience writes their name on a $100 bill, and then later in the trick, the $100 bill magically appears in the center of a grapefruit? How do they do that?

I am a simple farm boy, so I am even impressed with the ‘needles through the balloon’ act. But the trick that I have seen the most and still impresses me the most is when they ‘saw a person in half.’ I have seen this trick when the ‘victim’ is selected from the audience. I don’t know if the person in the audience is a ‘plant’ or not, but I have volunteered Grandma P to be the victim. For the sake of brevity, I even volunteered the use of my chainsaw for the act as it is faster than a handsaw, but to no avail.

I have seen dozens of different ‘slight of hand’ tricks done with a deck of cards. Some of these were very impressive. After observing these tricks, I am elated that I would never be playing poker with any of these guysl. (Playing poker with my 12 year old grandson is challenging enough!)

So why are these magic tricks so successful? Well, without being a professional magician, I am going to speculate that these magicians are masters of the ‘slight of hand.’ What is ‘slight of hand?’ In midwestern farm boy terms, it is the magician’s ability to have you watch one thing, while he is performing the trick with the other. While you are mesmerized by watching his right hand move, his left hand is actually doing the trick. And…a good looking female assistant walking on and off the stage is another very successful diversion. Generally speaking, the good magician has directed your eyes and thoughts to one area, while they are pulling off the ‘trick’ elsewhere.

Do you know who else are masters of the ‘slight of hand?’ Politicians! Especially politicians at the federal level. Let me give you an example.

As you are all aware, the cost of gasoline has gone from roughly $2.00 per gallon in our area, to approximately $3.39 per gallon in just one year. The current Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm was interviewed earlier this week asking about this. Her response? After she was done snickering, she professed she did not have a crystal ball, and the price rises were because OPEC has stated that they were not going to pump any more oil! Here is the ‘slight of hand’ concerning this matter. Madam Secretary put the blame on OPEC, when the current administration in fact, put the binders on the Keystone pipeline. She also conveniently forgot to mention the U.S. was an energy exporter during the Trump administration! We were fossil fuel independent, with cheap gasoline, and exported LNG. Not anymore. It’s OPEC’s fault, not the stupid decisions made by the Biden administration to overturn Trump’s energy independent mandates.

Have you seen much national coverage of how many illegal immigrants have entered our country this year? No? Very few news agencies are covering that issue. Let me be succinct in this; according to knowledgeable sources, 1.8 MILLION illegal immigrants will enter the country this year. Let me put that in perspective. That many illegal immigrants equals the population of Minneapolis, Minnesota…..4 times over! Additionally, all kinds of rumors were circulating that the Biden administration was considering granting $450,000 to each adult member of a separated illegal immigrant family. Say what? Where is the slight of hand in this situation? The Biden administration and the supporting liberal media wants you to be focused on climate change and Biden’s recent trip to meet with European leaders about climate change. It must not have been much of a meeting, as many leaders did not attend. Of course, the ‘wall’ that was being built under the Trump administration was halted by the Biden administration. (Wasn’t Kamala Harris suppose to be the border czar?)

Another example? Are you tired of having COVID restrictions beaten into your head by governmental agencies? Yeah…that is what I thought. I got three times more positive responses than Biden’s approval rating. But yet…wait for it….18% of the illegal immigrants entering this country tested positive for COVID. That is insane, it is not covered by the media, and our government refuses to do anything about it. But yet, our COVID restrictions continue.

Last week, there was a gubernatorial election in Virginia. Virginia has had Democratic governors since the 70’s. Terry McAuliffe was the incumbent democratic governor who faced the challenge of conservative Glenn Youngkin. Because of all the hoopla concerning parents becoming concerned about what was being taught to their children, education became the paramount issue of this election. Parents were being told by school boards that they did not have a ‘say’ in determining what was taught. This stance raised the hackles of many parents and more than a few school board meetings became heated. They became heated to such a level that school boards wanted the FBI to investigate and prosecute some parents as ‘domestic terrorists.’ This whole issue resulted in the upset victory for Glenn Youngkin. So how did the liberal media report this victory the day following the election? There were some idiotic liberal commentators contending that Youngkin’s victory was a “victory for white supremists.” So…we are suppose to focus on the fact that these parents were domestic terrorists and white supremists. Never mind that elected school boards are to serve the community, not the other way around. Never mind that not all of the concerned parents were white. Here we go again playing the racist card. Really?

Are you confident that our federal government is spending our money wisely? If you are anything like most, your reply would be an emphatic ‘no’. If you are anything like me, your reply would be an empatic, hell no! When younger, I was mesmerized by government expenditures that were in the millions. Then, in the not to distant past, the millions became billions. Now, there is no hesitation in Washington, D.C. to pass legislation involving trillions. My problem is this: we become so focused on the size of these expenditures, that we loose site of actually “what is in these expenditures.” It is a page right out of the magician’s handbook! These politicians are counting on our lethargy when it comes to these expenditures. I know I would like to see exactly what is buried in these expenditures with a line item synopsis. But, government is experienced in titling these items in superfluous terms. Still…it is OUR money!

Our current administration wants us to focus on lower unemployment numbers, a higher stock market, and a recovering economy. All of these are positive and important items. But, with the waning of the Coronovirus, Bozo the Clown could be POTUS and these improvements were going to occur. Things were so bad that the only way was up.

So I am going to assume the role of the magician, and suggest the American public begin to focus on these:

  1. Climate Change. I am a firm believer that we should attempt to take the practical steps necessary to protect our environment. But…having said that, no environment protection measures will be effective without China and India being involved, and they aren’t involved. They, not the U.S. are the largest polluters of the world. Climate change has occurred for millennium and will continue without our input. Some years the ice cap melts, some years it freezes. That trend will continue. Some people will not be satisfied until there are glaciers covering Canada and the upper third of the U.S., just like in prehistoric times. (Bring back the dinosaurs, and let’s see if those candy-ass liberals still want to support gun control!)
  2. China military buildup. In case you haven’t noticed, the Chinese successfully sent a supersonic, nuclear capable missile around the world in about 30 minutes. The scary component of this is that it is so fast, there is no way of neutralizing it. Additionally, China is spending a huge percentage of their GDP to increase their military capabilities. What will we do if they invade Taiwan? We have a mutual defense pact with Taiwan. If we do not honor that pact, we will loose the support of our allies in that part of the world with whom we have mutual defense pacts.
  3. Supporting our first responders. It is time to support the police and incarcerate the criminals regardless of race. Period. I don’t care if we have to convert the Aleutian islands into a penal colony! The government and liberal media want us to focus on racial injustice, when we should be focused on justice. I have written enough about this in my last blogs, so I will not be repetitive.

If I were to be closer to a magician performing a trick, eventually I may be able to figure how it is done and how he diverts attention while performing the trick. With the mastery of our federal government, I am sure we will always be victims of their ‘slight of hand.’ ” Keep your eye on this, while we are ‘tricking’ you elsewhere.” After all, they are better at it than most magicians.

P.S. Since writing this blog, it has been substantiated that only 10% of the recently passed infrastructure bill is for roads and bridges! Holy crap! Where is the other 90% going?

QUIT LOOKING FOR ALIENS! THEY’VE ALREADY LANDED!

I grew up during a time when, if you thought you had an alien encounter, you were just thought to be two bricks short of a load. The butter had melted off your cob. Your lights were on, but nobody was home. Well…you get the point. Not much was ever said about alien encounters in the sixties. But then a weird thing occurred. During one of our classes, the teacher asked if anyone ever thought they had observed anything associated with the ‘unexplained.’ In other words, an alien encounter. Over half the class, had said they had, (including me!) and this lead to some really, really interesting stories. But, unfortunately, that is not the subject of this blog.

The original purpose of writing this blog, which began in 2012, was to apply common sense ideas and solutions to current problems. So today, these common sense ideas are going to be applied to the fact that we can cease looking for life from other planets, get rid of your telescopes, defund any planetariums, because; they are already here!

We are all painfully aware of the destruction, shootings, violent crime, civil disobedience that has recently occurred as a result of the death of George Floyd. All of the 50 major cities in the U.S. have seen higher incidences of theft, homicide, car jackings, rape….you name the crime category, and it has increased significantly in all of these cities. To say that solutions are being debated at all levels of government from local to federal would be an understatement. But, leave it up to our wisely chosen elected federal officials to come up with the best solutions. Enter: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), U.S. representative from the great state of New York. The very verbal AOC said this in May of this year, “To reduce violent crime, America needs to stop building more jails.” Say what? Now what person from planet Earth, would think this was a viable solution? Less jails=less crimes? If I didn’t know she was serious, I would think this was a Saturday Night Live skit, and I would be laughing my donkey off! (Remember: I have young, impressionable grandkids, so I can’t say laughing my ass off!)

But I would like to point out one more statement by the ever popular representative who has never met a television camera she didn’t love. During a House Commission on illegal aliens in March of 2019, Representative Ocasio-Cortez said that, “illegal aliens are my constituents.” Now that presents two points of view. When she mentioned ‘illegal aliens,’ was she talking about people from Central America, or, people from Alpha Centauri? You be the judge. I could max out the memory on my computer by quoting other AOC comments, but one can only pick so much low-hanging fruit before your basket is full. Suffice it to say that her other comments are, ‘ out of this world,’ too. (Cue the Twilight Zone theme song.)

It is obvious to me that aliens are not only here singularly, but have managed to reproduce and congregate.

Do you remember a few years ago, when all statues that were associated with the Civil War had to be removed? Why? Well it was stated that these men who fought for the South, were found to be offensive by large segments of our population. I am not sure what percentage of the population found them offensive, but the statues had to go. Enter: the City of Newark, New Jersey. In light of all that has happened this past year, they erected a 700 pound bronze statue of George Floyd outside the Newark city hall. Who from this planet would honor a convict and thug? And….quite honestly, I find a statue of George Floyd to be offensive, so I want it down and it can be stored with the Civil war statues! (Why not a statue of a soldier, fireman, or policeman? Why not Buddy Valastro from Carlo’s Bakery for all the charity work he has done in the Newark area? Just sayin”.) George Floyd would not be dead if he had not passed a counterfeit bill. Floyd would probably not be dead if he wasn’t full of illegal drugs. Floyd would probably not be dead if he did not resist arrest. So tell me Earthlings, why does someone with 6 years of prison time and a long rap sheet deserve public monies to be spent on a statue? His death is a tragedy, but his life sure as hell is not noteworthy of praise. The decision by the City of Newark is another decision that is ‘out of this world.)

But just like the paid infomercials on television: “But wait…there is more!”

There is only one group of aliens that can show their true colors better than AOC or the City of Newark. (Would that color be green? ) That group would be the group that is squarely located at ground zero of the George Floyd incident, and that would be the City of Minneapolis city council. As you are aware, over 500 businesses were destroyed and looted following the George Floyd incident. This damage was horrible and horrendous to such a point that the Minneapolis police abandoned one of their precinct buildings. The destruction and rioting lasted for days. The governor of Minnesota and the Mayor of Minneapolis (aliens to be sure!) did nothing before calling out the National Guard after 4 days of nothingness. So what is the City of Minneapolis city council solution for alleviating these occurrences? Well…… they want, and did, partially defunded the police! This solution is not only ‘out of this world’, but is light years away from any common sense solution. These people have obviously come from a place much further than Alpha Centauri!.

To further explain, the City of Minneapolis had 817 officers before the George Floyd incident. Now they have 638 officers. Many fine, experienced officers retired, left the profession or moved because of the lack of support for the police during the Derek Chauvin trial. Last summer, the city council took several steps toward the defunding, including approving an amendment to remove $1 million from the police department and divert it toward the health department to hire “violence interrupters” – essentially social workers with the mission of de-escalating violent situations. In December, they diverted another $8 million from the police budget to other city services.

These fiscal moves, and the lack of city support for the police after the George Floyd incident has now….shall we say, ‘ allowed the chickens to roost.’ Minneapolis has seen an uptick in crimes that include daylight car jackings, robberies, assaults, shooting and street racing. Early 2021 crime statistics show a 250% increase in gunshot victims compared to the year-ago statistics. Rape is up 22% and robbery is up 59% compared to the previous year. Not too surprising, the 911 response times have increased, but rest assured, those “violence interrupters” will be faster than a speeding spaceship.

How could responsible Earthlings come up with these ‘out of this world ideas?’ The City of Minneapolis city council has got to be aliens from another planet, because slashing police department funds is not the solution for reducing crimes. And…reducing the number of jails will not reduce crime, either. The city council combative approach to the police, is only going to get you a lower class of policeman. Who, in their right mind, would want to be a policeman in Minneapolis? Who would want to be a “violence interrupter” in a domestic dispute, when that is the police call that the police hate and fear the most. I don’t know if the ‘violence interrupters’ have become a reality, but if they have, they will last until the first is shot or beaten…something that could easily occur in many domestic situations.

So dear readers, I have presented my case that we have been visited and infiltrated by aliens from other planets. Additionally, they must possess a form of ‘Vulcan mind meld’ that forces stupid voters into voting them into power! If that were not the case, why would these stupid, ‘out of this world’ decisions be made by the likes of AOC, the City of Newark, and the City Council of Minneapolis? But more importantly, how long are we going to tolerate their presence before we send them back to their home planets?

Retirement and Politics…..Bad for Your Health?

Being retired definitely has its advantages.  I can play video games any time I want….and in my pajamas!  I can go days without shaving.  I get ‘old fart’ discounts at restaurants.  I can watch anything I want on television, anytime I want.  Vacations aren’t a problem…we can go whenever and wherever we please.  We just need to make a withdrawal from the grandkids college funds. Voila!  We’re sailing in the Caribbean!

But, alas, there are some disadvantages.  For instance, If Grandma P and I did not have doctors appointments, we would not have a social life.  In that regard, it sucks to get old.  Another disadvantage is that Grandma P knows she can shame me into doing any repair work around the house, any time it needs to be done.  In her eyes, I am a ‘handy man’ available 24/7.  Change that light bulb.  Mow that yard.  Paint those faded lawn ornaments.  You get the drift.

But there is one really, really big disadvantage about being retired.  As I am doing the fun things I want to do, usually in my office, usually with the television on, I get to watch all the political machinations that are taking place in Washington, D.C.  I get to watch the daily press briefings.  I get to watch any congressional fact finding commissions or panels.  And, as a result, I have noticed two things.  Firstly, how stupid most of the reporters are at the press briefings and how stupid most of our elected officials really are.  Secondly, it is obvious that most politicians are not concerned about what is best for our country.  They are far more concerned about pandering to their political base (whatever that is!) and getting reelected.

As I am writing this blog, the government is approaching its third day of shutdown.  A very unnecessary, dangerous shutdown.  As a former business owner, there were times, because of the economic environment, when I had to expand or contract my work force.  It is logical that I would want to hire the best most productive people possible.  It is also logical that in times of contraction, I would release the least productive people.  So, how is it that the people, in this case the Congress of the United States, that are responsible for this shutdown are the only people exempt from the ramifications of the shutdown?  I think their paychecks should be the first casualties of a shutdown!  Just sayin’.

Our country is currently facing many challenges.  The war in Afghanistan.  The federal budget.  North Korea has not gone away.  The wall.   Dreamers.  Illegal immigration.  And now, we have a government shutdown.

My frustration grows…..

A couple of weeks ago, much media attention was given to Donald Trump allegedly referring to Haiti as a ‘shithole.’  Many people attending this meeting said that the POTUS did not say this.  The POTUS stated he did not say it.  The one person who got the press was Senator Dick Durbin (D) from Illinois. (Nothing is sacred or secret in our government if the slightest tinge of political gain can be gotten.)  So this issue became a political hot potato.  It got better.  There was a Senate Judicial Hearing concerning Homeland Security.  You know these Homeland Security people, they are responsible for  everything about public security in the U.S., including TSA, Immigration, border security,  cyber security, the Secret Service, etc.  During this hearing with the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Neilsen; Senator Cory Booker (D) New Jersey, decided that rather than asking pertinent questions about the public security of our country, he would go into a tirade about how he cried when he heard the purported remarks the POTUS made about Haiti from Dick Durbin.  He passed up his opportunity to better our country to pander to his constituents. After all, Cory Booker has never met a television camera he did not like.  (This is not an uncommon trait among senators!)

I have to admit, when this story first broke about what the POTUS said, I was a little perplexed.  But then I had to fall back on common sense.  I had to consider the source.  In this case, this was the same Dick Durbin that was quoted as saying we need to cease using the term, ‘chain immigration’ because it reminds the black race that their ancestors came to America in chains. Say what?  Are you kidding me?  If that is the case, then there should be marching and burning in protest to the term, ‘ minority whip.’  That is the person from the minority party in the House of Representatives that is tasked with keeping the party members in line with the party platform by supporting the platform with their vote.  In this case, the minority whip would be a Democrat.   I digress.  (Dick Durbin’s analogy is absolutely stupid.)

I wish that the POTUS  would not use the term ‘shithole’ when referring to a third world shithole like Haiti.  It upsets people and creates liberal press fodder, even though it is a spot-on descriptive.  Haiti has had billions of dollars poured into it, without any benefit to the common people.  Where did the money go?   I don’t really care if Trump said it or not, as I know that Haiti is a shithole because it is the only country in the Caribbean that Grandma P and I have not visited in our 20 cruises throughout the area.  If it were anything else, it would be a port of call.  (We have been to the Dominican Republic numerous times at the other end of Hispaniola.  It is beautiful!)  What concerns me is that a US senator turned a serious Senate Judicial hearing into a carnival sideshow.  All of this because another US senator decided to mow political hay with the purported description used by Trump.

Frustration building…..  (1.  Take a deep breath.  2.  Paint some faded lawn ornaments!)

How about the political circus surrounding the government shutdown itself?  95% of the Republicans voted for the funding measure to fund the government, effectively ending the shutdown.  95% of the Democrats voted against the funding measure and initiated a filibuster to halt the vote in the senate.  The Democrats want the funding of our nations military and security apparatuses to go unpaid while they are wanting a full amnesty for the ‘dreamers.’  You know who the ‘dreamers’ are.  They are the children brought into the US by their illegal immigrant parents.  But the Democrats want to take it further.  They want citizenship for the ‘dreamers’ as well as their parents who illegally entered this country.  But, with the assistance of an all-too-willing liberal media, the Democrats are blaming the POTUS and the Republicans for the shutdown.  Hopefully, most people in America are smart enough to see through this.

Speaking of the media, you should have watched the news conference about the president’s health.  The examining doctor was kept on the podium for over an hour because of some of the dumbest questions you would ever want to hear.  How can you say he is physically fit?  How can you say he is mentally acute?  How can you say he is physically fit when he eats cheeseburgers?  (As do 300 million other Americans!)   Apparently these people are of the belief that if you ask the same question four times, the answer may change.  Not likely.  Many press briefings follow this same, repetitive scenario.

(Where is the President’s doctor when I need him!  Blood pressure..up!   Heart rate..rising!  OMG!  I ate a cheeseburger last week!  I’m a goner!)

Did you know that five representatives are not attending the State of the Union Address because they claim that Trump is a racist.  Is that how you want your representative to represent you?   What kind of respect and cooperation can these five people expect in Congress, when they don’t show any respect for others.  These people may be loud, and brash, and get reelected, but they will not get much legislation passed that will benefit your legislative area as other Congressmen will not show respect and cooperation for them.

So I have a challenge for my retired friends.  Please take time to observe a weeks worth of White House press briefings.  Observe the stupidity of the press corps and their questions.  You will be astonished.  For those still working, I am sure you can tape these briefings and watch at night.  They do provide some of the best entertainment on television.

My second challenge is for everyone to make an attempt at observing your federally elected officials at work.  There is no question that some of these people are brilliant and have the best interest of our country at heart.  There is also no question that some of them are egocentric, stupid, and are more concerned about reelection than results.  I have pointed out a couple, but you can make your own judgement.

I get so upset about the maneuvering that is taking place to create shutdowns, belittle the President’s physical condition, belittle the President’s mental condition, and basically ‘stonewalling’ anything that is positive for this country that I have to turn off my television.  Are these the people you want to represent you?  Observe your politicians at work.  You may be surprised  how they represent you.

(Shut off the television.  Heart rate…declining.  Blood pressure…normal.) 

Well, its rainy and dreary outside.  Time for a nap.  Ah. yes.  The advantages of being retired.