WHO DOESN'T???

According to Niles Deneen of Deneen Pottery that makes personalized coffee mugs and cups with logos...

In case you didn’t know, Americans love coffee. And while we still lag behind our European friends in coffee consumption (the U.S. ranks 25th in coffee consumption at 4.2 kg of coffee consumed per person per year, Finland ranks 1st at 12 kg per person per year – according to World Atlas), the U.S. consumption has increased by an entire kilogram in the last five years, and there is no sign of that trend stopping.

The National Coffee Association produced a study this year and found that 64% of Americans drink coffee. Furthermore, 79% of people drinking coffee within the past day brewed coffee at home, compared to 75% in 2017 and 84% in 2012. It seems as though more people are starting to move towards making their coffee at home as opposed to going and purchasing it at a coffee shop (sorry Starbucks, but people are starting to opt for being their own baristas at home).

In fact, past day consumption of coffee prepared outside the home dropped from 40% in 2017 to 36% in 2018, though it remains at higher levels than found in 2012-2017.

It may have surprised you...  using the data from the National Coffee Association that 36% of Americans DO NOT DRINK COFFEE...  those numbers work out to ONE IN THREE DO NOT DRINK COFFEE...  and, I am wondering how many couple have only one coffee drinker in the home and of those couples, how many have fights or arguments over the mess in the kitchen as a result of those damn coffee makers...  especially when one wants to grind up their own coffee beans.

Do you drink your coffee black or do you add cream and sugar?  Opps...  more of a mess now...  more cleaning...  and, if you stir, how strong is your stirring and does coffee find its way out onto the counter...  or does it drop down onto the floor as you walk into the living room to sit on the couch?

Wives who don't drink coffee SEEM TO HATE COFFEE DRINKERS unless they are guests and then they are forced to keep their opinions to themselves which pisses them off even more.

Enjoy your coffee!!! 

BACK TO WORK

The Holiday (Christmas or Seasonal) is over...   and now that most of us no longer refer to this holiday as Christmas, what the hell are we celebrating for?  Of course...  I forgot...   it was NEW YEARS EVE and then NEW YEARS DAY..  and, all those presents that we bought and wrapped and shared was just to celebrate the approach of the new year.  What a fickle group of people to spend so much time and money celebrating the new year as if it were our own private birthday...

WELL...  anyway, it is gone...  over...  say goodbye...   because it ain't coming back for another 12 months and in the meantime, it is time for us to return to work...  and make some damn money...

But, some of us are still out-of-work because of COVID and there are others who cannot go back to work because they ignored all the warnings and now they are home with COVID...  and if they are in relatively good health will live to WORK another day.

Then...  there are some of us...  who...  have decided we have earned enough money and need no more and now call themselves RETIRED...  however, many people simply NEED to work and earn money like it was some sort of COVID Disease where they can only get better if and when they earn another dollar, and then another, and then another.

In a way, I feel sorry for those who are addicted to money and greed like those addicted to drugs...  and, must live the rest of their lives with that as their only motivator other than spending the money they earn with is the other side and equally as harmful.

Some of retired folk understand that money is not happiness nor is money success no matter how the media and advertisers try to spin it.

Life is a GIFT and work is a necessary evil nowadays in order to enjoy that GIFT...  but, life did not always used to be that way and I doubt if it was ever that way for Native Americans before the rest of us arrived and stole everything from them because we out-numbered them and were stronger.

But, what we did to the Native American was not LIFE AS A GIFT either...

So, since progress ruined the concept of life as a GIFT, we must now work and pretend that we are working to enjoy LIFE AS A GIFT...  retirees see life as a gift and are thankful for that insight and feel rather sorry for all of those who cannot see it or can never see it because they do not know how to enjoy life unless they are earning money by convincing others to spend their money...  in other words, give it to them...

Komic Korner Kartoons

 

Coffee Preferences

The last time my wife and I went to Hawaii...  it was complements of DELTA AIRLINES because we gave up our seats to Las Vegas and agreed to catch a much later flight and when all was said and done, we had each received 1600 Delta Dollars or Points which just happen to cover the cost of a round trip ticket to Hawaii from Atlanta, so we decided to drive which took about 3 hours but saved us about $500 in tickets after paying gasoline and the cost to park the car.

Returning from Hawaii, we had shipped 10 pounds of KONA Coffee which has long since been used but needless to say, not only was it delicious but inexpensive when purchased at the factory wholesale.  But, if I was to rate coffees based upon my taste preference first and cost second, then I would have to say that Dunkin Donuts has my preferred taste, even though it is a blend of several coffees.

Starbucks would come in second or third followed by McDonalds and/or Hardees since both of them are very similar in taste although both have their own special blends.  After that would be just about any local restaurant coffee followed by Cruise Ship Coffee which actually isn't that bad but a bit too strong for my older taste buds.

However, any coffee is difficult to taste good since I have shifted to decaf and KONA still ranks the best in decaf as well followed by Dunkin Donuts and if there is a third place, it would go to Weigles Convenience Stores who has changed their blends and who are now very competitive with Kona and Dunkin Donuts...

For me, I don't want to taste the bitterness nor do I want to taste the sweetness in the coffee...   I want it split right down the middle...  and, I know that is possible.

Best Global Coffees

1. Koa Coffee – Hawaiian Kona Coffee
Beans (Hawaii)

2. Organic Medium Roast Coffee By LifeBoost Coffee

3. Blue Mountain Coffee From Jamaica

4. Volcanica Coffee Kenyan AA Coffee Beans

5. Peaberry Beans From Tanzania

6. Sumatra Mandheling Beans From Indonesia

7. Indonesian Sulawesi Toraja Coffee Beans

8. Central American Geisha Coffee Beans

9. Yirgacheffe Beans From Ethiopia

10.  Death Wish Coffee Beans

What do these 10 best coffees have in common?

They use arabica coffee...

Arabica coffee comes from the beans of a Coffea arabica plant, which originated in Ethiopia. Arabica is the world's most popular coffee type, equating to over 60% of cups drank.

There are 3 basic kinds of coffee beans:

• Arabica
• Robusta
• Columbian

even though all three come from the same plant.

Columbian Arabica beans are only grown in the tropical climates of South America and involve a little more processing than the other two varieties.  Columbian plants do not grow as tall as the other varieties and the beans are washed after processing.

Robusta arabica plants can survive at lower altitudes, typically have more beans per plant, are not affected by climate changes, and possess a lot more caffeine.

Arabica plants grow taller and have longer branches and different leaves.

Processing is what changes the taste of the coffee beans.  Wet processing involves washing the bean and removing the fruit from around the beans before they are dried.

Dry processing involves drying the bean and fruit and then removing the fruit from around the bean.

While dry processing can result in a stronger coffee flavor with more caffeine, wet processing can result in the coffee taste being a little more acidy.

2021: Reminded of SLAVERY

I slept through New Year's Eve as I have done so many years before this one and when I woke up the next day, just like this morning, I found myself not only participating in a new year but in a new decade as well...  having said goodbye (in my own way) to the previous year and to the previous decade as well...  I suppose it was not much of a decade for most of us really when you consider it ended with a devastating GLOBAL PANDEMIC of which and for which CHINA is completely responsible...  and yet, I would suspect just like everything else that nothing will happen to them for fear of hurting our economy...

2021 will still be loaded with GREED...  of this fact, you can be absolutely sure...  and, the wealthy will become wealthier despite their best efforts at continuing to act STUPID as if it is ever so inconsequential.  the poor people will no doubt remain poor as they never had the mental capacity (motivation) to do anything else.  The blacks will receive better opportunities through a new kind of education and be afforded better police protection in that less will be killed by whites... BUT OVERALL, systemic racism will continue as it festers underneath a mountain of government rules and regulations.

Black will still hate whites for slavery no matter what the government does or does not do for them...  it is something that happened to THEM and they want to make damn sure that NO WHITE FORGETS IT...  and...  all that will do will serve to perpetuate the racism in different albeit unexpected ways...  as racism restructures and rebuilds underground.  Rap Music Lyrics will continue to preach KILL WHITEY just as BLACK CHURCHES will continue to preach that Blacks are Blacks and not White Americans...

How do I know this since I am no expert?

My answer is simple:  HUMAN NATURE

If Black discriminate against other blacks because they are either a darker black or a lighter black then they are damn sure going to continue to perpetuate hating whites...   and the only thing left to hate now that all the statues have come down is SLAVERY...  SLAVERY...  SLAVERY...  and it is that fact that will never be denied...  nor will slavery ever disappear....  because it is not the confederate statues that really remind blacks of slavery but the DAMN WHITES... As long as blacks continue to live in the USA and are confronted with the fact that they will just about always see WHITES, then they will always be REMINDED OF SLAVERY...  there is just no way around it...

Life Without Family

RECTIFY is a Netflix series that scheduled to last 4 seasons or 26 episodes in order to completely tell the story of this 18 year old boy who without the benefit of legal counsel was put into prison for 20 years and subsequently released because DNA evidence proved that he was not involved in the raped and therefore not the one who murdered a 16 year of female.  The boy in question was high on an hallucinogenic drug at the time and had been convinced by law enforcement that he was the murderer finally confessed after 18 hours on interrogations.

The small Georgia town to which he returned was not convinced of his innocence and wanted to try him again as it set about collecting evidence.  And, the story unwinds as the people in the town take sides forming their opinions of innocence or guilt and taking action.  The new sheriff is collecting evidence but the old prosecuted convinces the released prisoner to take a plea deal in lieu of a new trial that includes another confession and banishment from the State.  He agrees and moves to Tennessee where he tries to begin a new life WITHOUT his family and friends...  which I suppose was the whole point of the deal and series...  living without family and friends for the rest of one's life.

The movie also gradually revealed what life was like in prison for this 18 year old boy/man and how he withdrew inside himself to hide from the reality of his new life and the barbaric conditions he had to endure from other inmates as well as from the prison guards.  There was very little left of him when his family tried to reclaim him and help him return to becoming whole and have a proper future at which to look forward...  that process was difficult and finally happened in the last scene as he lay dreaming on his bed.

BUT...  how many of us today...  not being just released from prison are living without family and friends because something was said that offended the other person and the sibling relationship ended or that because there was a decade difference in age between siblings there was no need to have any kind of a relationship at all.

PERHAPS...  some families just were not meant to be families at all once both parents died and the reason to come together died with the parents.

Does this make life SAD...  or, just predictable?

NEW YEARS DAY 2021

 

Countless Centuries of DEAD

Every time I think of the end of a year like twenty twenty which is also the end of a decade as well, I also think of the countless people who have died that I DO NOT KNOW and WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN regardless of the lives that they led.  Some of these people live in the US but a vast majority of them live in other countries.  Some were wealthy but a vast majority of them were poor.  Some were adults but a vast majority of them were still youthful innocents who had not learned of their place in the world.

Americans are arrogant in that we don't give a rat's ass about other people who live in other parts of the world, nor do we care about those who live in other neighborhoods or in other parts of our State...  we just care, if caring is the correct word, about those who are immediately living around us and perhaps a few spread out families...  but, nothing else...  nor will we ever, even though we talk about relatives all the time in the form of spreading gossip.

• Millions have died in 2020 from COVID
• Millions have died in 2020 from natural causes
• Millions have died in 2020 from fight wars
• Millions have died in 2020 from accidents

AND...  as we approach the end of 2020 and the end of a decade all we can say is WHO CARES???

Why is it that those of us who actually believe in a CREATOR do not express our concerns for all those we do not know who have died this year?

Is our faith not that strong?

Is our faith not supposed to cover those who believe differently?

Does our faith not cover ALL OF GOD'S CHILDREN?

I would be incredibly surprised to discover that GOD DID NOT CREATE all of mankind and not just CHRISTIANS....  of course, I am sure that many Christians could quote scripture and verse proving me different...  but, in a universe as vast as our universe is and for God to have created this universe and MANKIND that HE only wanted to pay attention to a group of people that paid attention to HIM.

We lost millions in 2020 and we need to be mindful of all of them...

Officially Official

AS OF 1:20 PM ON THE THIRTIETH DAY OF OUR LORD TWENTY TWENTY...  I took down, repackaged, and returned to storage all our outside Christmas Decoration...  and I say Christmas because this Holiday Season is more than just a holiday season in which we exchange gifts without a birthday celebration associated with that exchange of gifts...  it is a birthday celebration for one person in particular and that is Jesus of Nazareth.

AND WHILE IT DOES NOT REALLY MATTER IF I AM FOREGIVEN OR NOT, I choose not to attend man's churches that were built as tributes to themselves but worship in my own way, in my own style, and in my own private communications with the one who created it all.

I simply do not believe in the BIG BANG THEORY or in the THEORY OF EVOLUTION (at least for mankind) as the human body is just so friggin complicated that it had to have been designed rather than simply evolving.  Now, that does not rule out Extraterrestrials manipulating our DNA and they might even be our creators...  but, with that idea needing some pondering...  who CREATED THEM so that they could create us?

The BIG BANG just does not do a very good job of answering that question.  Plus, where in the hell did all the ingredients come from that were inside the big bang to begin with?  So...  guess what?  Scientists are now trying to prove that something can really come from nothing because that nothing in the first place was not nothing at all, it was in fact...  something...   we just called it nothing for lack of a better word.

How far up their asses are the heads of these scientists anyway?

AND NOW...

we are playing around with the concept of multiple dimensions that co-exist and are somewhat parallel to our own dimension in which the same thing happens as does happen in ours, it's just a little different and perhaps a little odd ballish.

For example...

for every degree in a circle, assuming our universe is a perfect circle, we could have another universal dimension...   which means that since each circle is composed of 360 degrees, we could have 360 different dimensions...

BUT... WHAT IF...

there were an infinite number of dimensions between each degree of a circle...  then, there is no telling how many dimensions of which our universe might be comprised.

In the sub atomic world...  the three particles of an atom are further broken down into smaller particles and those particles broken down into more particles until there is nothing left but VIBRATING STRINGS OF ENERGY WHOSE MOVEMENTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED...  hence the different dimensions that could be available to us.

NOW...

Let's consider this...

That our Solar System, not our Milky Way Galaxy, is considered to be one of these vibrating strings of energy in comparison to the rest of the universe...  and, its movement while seemingly pretty damn consistent to us, is unpredictable when it comes to the rest of our immense universe...

Mind Boggling...

RIGHT?

BUT...

do you really think that all of this uncertainty is a byproduct of some hypothetical BIG BANG or the byproduct of some sort of hypothetical INTELLIGENT DESIGN?

The Rest of the World Baby...

Millions are starving in South America

Millions are starving in Africa

Millions are starving in China

Millions are starving in Asia

How many people in America really care about that?

Americans care about only one thing...   GREED...

It may seem hard to believe at times but all you have to do is look around your little corner of the world (here in the US of A) wherever that might be and simply take in and appreciate all that you see.

How many obese people do you know that have no desire to quit eating as much as they do?

How many people do you know that refuse to exercise?

How many of you co-workers only work for that raise or bonus or both and could care less about anything else they are doing for the company?

How many of you went to college not for the education but to get more money during your lifetime?

How many of you are planning on buying a bigger house?

How many vehicles do you own?

How often do you drink alcohol and how much is consumed?

How often do you smoke a joint or snort a line?

How many of you are DEBT FREE?

In a way...   Americans are pathetic in how they try to live their lives and then on Sundays attend church and say otherwise...  Our entire ECONOMIC SYSTEM is based upon GREED and it is ONE GIANT PYRAMID SCHEME with the wealthy sitting on the top of the pyramid trying to convince us to buy more...  and when the wealthy are tired of poking the bear, they try to open markets in other countries and convince them that they need more...

THE WEALTHY ARE ONLY WEALTHY BECAUSE OF US....

BUT...  more importantly...

WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD...  BABY...

Warm and Toasty

While East TN is not as cold as the deepest parts of Canada, Alaska, or the Artic Circle, it is nonetheless colder than what I had expected for this time of the year...  and, it is getting to the point where any temperatures falling below 60 degrees now has got me shivering...  but, in my gas heated house, I am warm and toasty...  although, gas heat is not that great on my sinuses...  still, I am better off than the way that billions have to live in the naturally heated continent of Africa.

Living in East TN, one does not think too much about those living in Africa but the Africans for the most part and except for certain areas, are starving, without water, and oftentimes without shelter even though the shelter is to hide them from the sun.

Africa is the second largest continent and the second most populated continent after Asia and since Asia is farther north is is not as warm year round either.  Africa has 1.3 billion people living on or in its continent and it is difficult for me to think in those high numbers regardless of whether it pertains to money or people...  billions is a high amount.

55 States (September 2018) – Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau. Kenya, the Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Kingdom of Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

It is still hard to believe, at least for me sometimes, that our world is not just composed of many, many continents and their respective countries or states, but that there are so many people that are financially worse off than WHITE TRASH SOUTHERN AMERICANS to which our liberal Democrat friends have referred to us.

Some of our MORE WEALTHY AMERICANS have finally realized that Africans do not have much of anything so they have decided that they will IN ADDITION TO HELPING THE BLACKS IN AMERICA...  now help the Africans as well...  I admire where they want to spend their money, but that still will not buy them a feather bed in heaven....  since in God they do not believe...  not even for a second...  not even around Christmas that has just come and gone.

The Heart and Soul of the SOUTH

The front door to my modest 1,800 square foot home is open and the all glass storm door allows full sunlight to enter.  I am sitting in a recliner just left and back from the front door wearing sweatpants and a fleeced lined sweatshirt jacket because it is a tad chilly inside our home during these months as we keep the thermostat on a constant 68 degrees which ordinarily is fine but as I grow older, I tend to need more warmth wrapped around me.

The outside temperatures have been in the 50's and tomorrow it will reach well into the 60's and whatever remnants of snow remaining will be for sure melted away.  Tomorrow, I will take down and package up our outside Christmas decorations...  well before New Years Day which is the tradition around these parts...  as they say in these parts...

My door is open because I feel relatively SAFE in East TN and not the slightest concerned that BLM along with the help of ANTIFA will be running around this neck of the woods rioting, burning, and looting...  although, we have plenty of black families living in this area...  and, actually not too far away if one were to take a notion to measure.

With a 30 minute drive, I can be in the heart of Knoxville, or Sevierville and if I were to add 30 more minutes, I can be in the heart of NASCAR country or Bristol, TN to the north and to the east Dollywood and/or Pigeon Forge and the resort area of Gatlinburg...  and in none of these places will I find any traces of BLM or ANTIFA...   even though more and more people are visiting these places from those bigger cities where BLM and ANTIFA seem to thrive.

Tennessee was one of the first STATES of our nation and was split in half more or less when we decided to have our Civil War...  as there were places about an hour from here that made munitions for the Union Army...  but, mostly it is a confederate State and because it was and still is in the business of "running moonshine" along the back roads provides the heart and soul of NASCAR...  along with North Carolina as they share The Great Smokey Mountains...  although, North Carolina may be a little more sophisticated.

But...   and, more importantly...  at least to me...  is the fact that on days like today, I can open my front door and let the sunshine in...   and, politics BE DAMNED...  and, I say that quite forcefully being the 73 year old threat that I am because...  politics has changed very little in this damn country of ours...  we have pretty much kept the STATUS QUO which is exactly why the BLACKS are bitching so much...  they see it too...

And, that is the great IRONY about POLITICS...  once you become a POLITICIAN and go that route under the FLAG of CHANGE... and WIN...   you quickly decide that nothing needs to change at all other than one's vocabulary...  in the sense of telling the people what they want to hear...

This is exactly why my front door is open and will continue to remain open while other front doors across the country at SHUT TIGHT and BOLTED.

America's problems lies not with her people but with her LEADERS...

Whites Must Understand Being White

Let me explain my life a little...

1. I was born in Raleigh, NC (1947) but live my life just outside Alexandria, VA until 1962 when we moved to Cairo, Egypt.
2. From 1966 until 1990, I lived in the rural Piedmont of North Carolina
3. From 1990 until PRESENT, I lived in the TN Valley of East TN

💜Not once was I stopped by law enforcement for being white

💜Not once did I witness white cops stopping blacks because they were black

💜Not once was I cognizant of any racial discrimination taking place

💜In the late 1960's/early 1970's, I was ostracized for having shoulder length hair

💜Not once did I feel the need to use the "N" word except around my parents

💜Not once was I given a job instead of a black person

💜Not once did I see a black person forced to ride in the back of the bus

💜Not once did I see a black person being refused service

💜Not once did I see a black person being asked to use a difference entrance

💜Not once did I encounter any black or white drug dealers

💜Not once did I hear of any black person stealing from my friends and/or neighbors

💜I have only seen a Confederate Flag fly on the back of a pickup truck once

💜I do remember watching THE AMOS AND ANDY show as a child

💜I also watched REDD FOXX at an adult

💜I got my shoes shined once in NYC when I was in the 8th grade by a black man while another black my cut my hair

💜I have been served by black and white waiters

💜My vacation rooms have been cleaned by black and white maids

If these things happen where I have lived, then they must have happened when I was not around because I have witnessed NOTHING either in NC or here in EAST TN that I have seen on the television that has taken place in literally ALL THESE OTHER BIG CITIES:  Atlanta, Washington DC, NYC, Chicago, Seattle, Pittsburg, Baltimore...  etc.

AND NOW...

because of what other people have done, I am supposed to surrender my whiteness and my love of being a SOUTHERNER because it OFFENDS BLACK PEOPLE...   and, my very presence reminds them of SLAVERY...

NOW...

our Federal Government can force us to do a lot of things and if they do, then I will comply, but regardless of what they force us to do, MY THOUGHTS WILL NEVER CHANGE nor will a lot of the thoughts of my friends based upon hearing their conversations.

If this is SYSTEMIC RACISM down here in the SOUTH then this is what you are going to get because it will never change...   not will this kind of approach...  and, especially not after what I have NOT SEEN HAPPEN.

Who Are We Kidding?

AMERICA IS DIVIDED JUST LIKE 

A BAD MARRIAGE...

A Fist of Violence for PEACE

American has been divided for a long time...  it's just recently that situations in this country have made the division worse...

We have always been divided on WEALTH but it is getting worse

We have always been divided on RACE but it is getting worse

We have always been divided on POLITICS but it is getting worse

We have always been divided on LAW ENFORCEMENT but it is getting worse

We have always been divided on GENDER and it remains about the same

Black Lives Matter have brought to our attention how law enforcement and a lot of white folks are racially biased...  and, as a way of appeasing the movement, several Confederate Statues have been removed from public property... and now BLACKS will no longer be reminded each day of slavery...  but, that WILL NOT STOP RACISM on either side of the equation...

Blacks HATE Whites as much as Whites HATE Blacks...  otherwise, this racial issue would have resolved itself.

Just like in a marriage both sides have to agree to change...  if you just ask one side to change their attitudes and behavior without the other side doing the same...  DIVORCE is inevitable and actually should be required or mandated...  since two parties are involved...

The same holds true for BLACKS...  who don't change but expect WHITES to change first so they can make sure the change is real and not just pretend.  It is that suspicion that will always be a deal breaker.

My Neck of the Woods

In my neck of the woods, it snowed right around 5 inches on Christmas Eve...  the same day that my wife and I celebrated Christmas 2020 with her son and his girlfriend and while they left our house at 6:30 pm it still took them over an hour to return home for a trip that usually takes 12 minutes.  That night, it was as cold as a witches tit in a brass bra or so we used to say in elementary school, even though we really had no idea what it actually meant or if was even possible.

The snow stayed on the ground until Sunday when a majority of it started to melt away and it will all be gone on Wednesday, two days from now when our temps rise into the low 60's.  I will take advantage of that warm day to remove our Christmas Decorations from the front yard which consists of 4 lighted deer plus 3 Christmas boxes also lit with lights.

I used 1/4 inch PVC pipe and electrical ties to secure the deer and the boxes from blowing away in the wind because the anchors that came with these items simply was not sufficient to do the job so I had to improvise even though I was never a Marine...  but, a sailor who liked to drink his lunch along with others of a like mind.

Christmas in East TN is not so much of a big deal for the people around here although many do put out all sorts of decorations and one or two houses tend to go a little over-board but as those people continue to age, what they put outside dwindles each year.

There were no Christmas Carolers walking around the neighborhood this year, nor has there ever been any in the 30 years that I have lived here.  That memory is one from my childhood and our neighborhood in Alexandria, VA...   actually, our neighborhood was Wellington Heights in between Hollin Hall and Hollin Hills Shopping Center, just off of Fort Hunt Road that paralleled Mount Vernon Blvd....  and Admiral Drive was just off of Morningside Drive.

After we walked around the neighborhood singing Carols to all those who could not leave their houses, we always returned to the basement of one of our neighbors where we had hot chocolate and glazed doughnuts.

In the 1950's and 1960's there was still a strong sense of COMMUNITY but that like most everything else that was good either faded away or died as we got more technologically minded and became more mistrusting of our neighbors...  and, started locking our doors at night just like they do in most of the big cities.

As we become more affluent then crime increases as well...  nowadays, I trust my neighbors as about as far as I can throw them with the wind at my back.  COVID makes the holidays even more cautious and it was apparent inside our house when my wife's son and his girlfriend both wore their facemasks when not eating even though we maintained a safe distance of more than 6 feet away.

Pitfalls of Age

I remember visiting my brother over Thanksgiving because I was in NYC on medical business the day before anyway...  and my brother had just flown back from a business trip overseas and was experiencing jetlag so we were both up at 5:00 am...  it was my choice but not his.  I remember this for some reason because as I age, my sleep habits change especially under the influence of over a decade of chemo.  So, on Sunday...   that is to say, yesterday, I was up around 8:00 am but slept pretty much all afternoon and evening until close to midnight when I woke up and felt like I needed to eat and drink something so I would not get dehydrated again.

Trying to go back to sleep two hours later was a waste of time as well, so it would appear I am in for an inverse sleep pattern again and hopefully it will only last until tonight as long as I keep myself awake and not sleep like I did today or actually yesterday now.   And, it is not like I have not gotten enough sleep because I have gotten more than enough sleep...  to last at least two days...

I have written and posted articles that will be published at precise times throughout this week in three of my four blogs...   not necessarily because I needed to in case I was out-of-town which I was not because I wanted to and during the days that I write all these articles I had nothing better to do with my time.  So, once could say that I am good to go until next Sunday when I will be up against hard deadlines again, unless I continue to write into the future which I know is possible but overlooks what might have happened unexpectedly.

Still, most of my writing is about the same...  complaining of this or that in the hopes that someone will get the idea that several items in America must change if we are really going to move ahead...  

like:

1. improve our educational systems K-12
2. improve our healthcare systems
3. improve our system of inequalities
4. improve our illegal drug system
5. improve our law enforcement system
6. improve our immigration system
7. improve our tax system
8. improve our wealth distribution system

True...   these 8 points are all domestic...  and, we have a few problems on the international front, the least of which is Russia and North Korea and the Middle East because those powers are relatively calm in comparison to what is waiting for us with CHINA.

Some see China as our friend but I can assure you that DEMOCRACIES are not the FRIENDS of COMMUNISTS and if we think that we want to see this differently then we are fooling ourselves.  Communism and Democracy is like mixing oil and water.

The more that we allow those 8 points above to fester inside our political body, our divided citizenship will become even more divided and it will divide one day beyond the point that it can be repaired and that is exactly when CHINA will take over GLOBAL CONTROL that will result in the USA being forced to do what the CHINESE say...

FOR INSTANCE...

Do you seriously believe that the USA can END systematic racism during a 4 year Presidential administration when a BLACK PRESIDENT could not accomplish that goal in 8 years?  Systematic Racism will take decades to resolve...  but we have not got that long.

2030 will be the first nail in our coffin...

2050 will see the world totally under the influence of CHINA...

BY 2030, 

1. the USA will still be working with PhD's on how to fix our K-12 educational systems because we keep falling father and farther behind.
2. the tax structure in the USA will become a severe burden
3. robotics will have replaced 25% of all jobs
4. there will be more global billionaires than US billionaires
5. China will control the global economy

Are Blacks Really Oppressed in 2020?

BLACKS write about their OPPRESSED LIFE in America...  and yet, America is full of successful

• black athletes
• black singers
• black artists
• black producers
• black millionaires
• black billionaires
• black bankers
• black coaches
• black restaurant managers
• black military officers
• black writers
• black teachers
• black clergy
• black politicians
• black lawyers
• black doctors
• black law enforcement
• black leaders
• black executives

NOTE: 

1.  only 13% of the population is BLACK which is why their numbers are not higher but it appears that no one is keeping track of that data.

2.  only lower class black are oppressed and not successful and quite interesting is the fact that lower class whites are in the same situation.

3.  do you honestly believe that you are going to get a black drug dealer to stop selling drugs for a little bit of education and $20/hour wages?

4.  lower class citizens regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender perceive themselves to be oppressed of kept from being successful by THE MAN...   THE MAN being the white man...  even though we have had a BLACK PRESIDENT and now have a BLACK VICE PRESIDENT...

More Pessimistic Than Optimistic... (Sarcastically of course)

My first encounter with Politics came in the 1960's with the Presidency of JF Kennedy and his assassination, the increase in US involvement in the Vietnam War, Anti-War Protesting in the US especially on College Campuses, and race riots in many of our larger cities over the inequalities that still manifested themselves in the USA....

IRONICALLY, over 50 years later we still have the same problems today that we had back then except for the Global Warming situation...   but equality in the US for many has not got better, we are still fighting in foreign wars in countries where the people don't want us there...  our healthcare is decreasing in value...  our education is decreasing in value...  the wealthy are getting wealthier...  and politics on both sides keeps everything in the range of status quo...

Americans are so gullible and stupid when it comes to thinking our country has actually improved on its behavior...

1. Our family units are deteriorating
2. Our children are taking more drugs than ever before
3. Our children are drinking more alcohol than ever before
4. Our healthcare availability and quality is declining
5. Our education system K-12 is less than mediocre at best
6. Our law enforcement is racially biased
7. Our politicians are wealthy and corrupt
8. Our mainstream media censors the news

DO YOU THINK OUR  

CURRENT ENVIRONMENT 

HERE IN THE USA

IS CONDUCIVE 

TO ACROSS THE BOARD 

IMPROVEMENTS 

AND 

CHANGE???

Komic Korner Kartoons