Saturday, December 17

Eleven Months In Review

What happened in the world during January through November 2022?

First off...  the agressor Russia could not kick ass in the Ukraine...  just how frigging powerful is Russia?  Why would any other country want to be their military partner?  This has particularly got to be embarrassing for Putin who gives us the impression that he is tough guy.


Second...  China continue to brag to the rest of the world that they want to control the rest of the world both militarily and economically and educationally.  AND...  the rest of the world is letting China do exactly that.  That ain't the kinda world that I want to live in.


Third...  The Biden administration continues to look like fools, idiots, and assholes as they continue to perpetuate the policies that cause higher gasoline prices, higher food prices, increased illegal immigration, increased illegal drugs, and increased crime and violence in our cities.  Is this the kind of country that you want to live in?


Fourth...   the billionaires are controlling the direction of the world, not just in the USA but all over the frigging world...  The billionaires are financing liberal views all over the world...  WHY?   billionaires are not stupid and they damn sure don't give a shit about you or I...  so, why are they doing this?


Fifth...  the rapid growth in technology whether it be robots with artificial intelligence, virtual reality programs teaching terrorists, robotic surgeries, smaller and smaller computer chips, electric vehicles, unlimited fusion energy, or social media controlling what we think and what we know through censorship.  I don't want to lose any of my freedoms but it is heading that way.

Pre Hoiliday Blues

The Biden administration is claiming success because inflation is only 7.1% instead of the 7.7% level last month...  But, that decrease came mainly in the area of reduced gasoline prices because people stopped driving as much.

Anybody can take the numbers and spin them to look good or bad depending upon who they want to influence.

With that said, December is the month of the big Christmas Holidays, even though many Americans are no longer Christians or are moving away from their Christian beliefs...  They still want to celebrate the birth of Jesus in whom they no longer believe...  kinda crazy, I think.

If you watch the television whether it be cable, dish, or wifi fiber connected to HULU, there are commercials that inundate you with shit that they want you to buy...  most of which you do not need.

  • Pills to make you lose weight
  • Pills to give you nutrition value
  • Pills instead of eating fruits and veges
  • Pills to help you sleep
  • Pills to hide your aches and pains
  • Pills to help you think better
  • Pills to help you perform better sexually
  • Pills to keep you from being depressed
  • PIlls to get you as high as a kite
If we are not selling pills, then we are selling perfume, shoes, clothes, vacations, cars, items for the house, new windows, and money in the form of loans.

IN SHORT...  our American economy is totally based upon you buying what you don't really need or want but think you need to have because it makes you feel better, look better, or seem better to your friends and neighbors.

Buying what you don't need is not just being foolish but GREEDY.  It is this GREED that made most Americans obese, because they were convinced that eating more was a good return on your investment.  Now you are FAT and these companies are selling you plans on how to lose that weight that they encouraged you to put on...

How crazy is that???
But, this is the American way...
And, you are part of it big time...  so pat yourself on the back for causing all the shit that we are currently in...

The Jordan Award


Michael Jordan was moments away from hoisting his third of what would become five NBA Most Valuable Player awards, and then-Commissioner David Stern greeted him at the midcourt ceremony with words that were both simple and profound.

“You are simply the standard,” Stern said that night in 1992, “by which basketball excellence is measured.”

That’s never been more true.

The NBA MVP award has been renamed The Michael Jordan Trophy, the league announced Tuesday. Jordan is a five-time MVP so he has five trophies named for Maurice Podoloff — the league’s first commissioner. But after six decades of the award bearing Podoloff’s name, the NBA decided the time was right to rebrand.

The Jordan trophy will stand 23.6 inches tall and weigh 23.6 pounds -- nods to his jersey number and six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls -- but is not a depiction of him. The chairman of the Charlotte Hornets approved the design, one that symbolizes someone reaching for excellence, but did not want the statue to be of himself. He also declined a request for comment through the NBA.

“Anybody should be able to see this and see themselves in it,” said Mark Smith, a longtime designer at Jordan Brand and the person who oversaw the trophy’s design. “They should feel the excellence of Michael Jordan and his pursuit. It’s got his name on it, but it isn’t him. It’s everybody. It could be a shipbuilder or it could be a teacher or a lawyer or a writer who looks at it and says, ‘That’s what I’m trying to do.’”  READ MORE...

The Coyote Principle

California

The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks the Governor's dog, killing it, then bites the Governor.

The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is natural.

He calls animal control. Animal Control captures the coyote and bills the state $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it.

He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases.

The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged.

The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals.

The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a "coyote awareness program" for residents of the area.

The State Legislature spends $2million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world

The Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack The state spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training on the nature of coyotes.

PETA protests the coyote's relocation and files a $5 million suit against the state.
______________________________

Texas

The Governor of Texas is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks his dog.

The Governor shoots the coyote with his state-issued pistol and keeps jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge.

The buzzards eat the dead coyote.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And that my friends is why California is broke and Texas is not.

Folding A Tarp

 


Friday, December 16

A Time for a Purpose

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
                                                                                                                       Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 8  


It doesn't take a Christian to read these words and understand their meaning as having merit and value.  This is how we all live and this is how we all die... whether you are Christian, Hindu, Islam, Buddha, Judaism, Taoism, Confuscianism, Jainism, Baha'l, Shinto, Sikhism, or Zoroastrianism...   YES...  there are 12 major religions in the world today...   

Interesting since we have
  • 12 Months
  • 12 Hours in a day
  • 12 Tribes of Israel
  • 12 Disciples
  • 12 Signs of the Zodiac

I am not trying to be religious here, I am just making connections with the number 12.

If there is a time for every purpose, then what are our purposes here during our lifetime?
  • to be born
  • to die
  • to grow, mature, and grow
  • to learn and retain
  • to earn a living or live off the government
  • to defend our family
  • to defend our country
  • to fight for our freedoms
  • to obey our laws
  • to love and hate
  • to retire
  • to enjoy life and find peace of mind
  • to meet people and have friends
  • to have children and grandchildren
  • to get involved with a hobby
  • to respect others and treat them fairly

The Truth About Politicians & Business Leaders

I worked for over 45 years in the marketplace starting before high school with mowing lawns in the summer and selling tomatoes and cucumbers around the neighborhood.  While in high school, I worked as a waiter in a steak house in Alexandria, VA and during the first two summers that I was in college, I worked road construction.

I dropped out of college, enlisted in the military, and when I returned to college, I worked in hoisery mills full time while attending college full time, even though the GI BILL paid for my collegge tuition and books.

After college, I worked in the following capacities:

  1. Director of Product Efficacy
  2. Executive Director of a Non-Profit
  3. Director of Focused Industrial Training
  4. Director of Quality Improvement and Industrial Training
  5. Corporate Director of Quality
  6. Director of Industrial Training
  7. Instructor and Program Chair of Project Management
  8. Assistant Dean, Dean, and Director of Education
  9. Professor of Business
  10. President/CEO of Quest Training Inc.  (1990-2015)
NOTE:  After 1990, all my employers gave me permission to work as a consultant on the weekends and using annual leave while working full time with them.

Designing Industrial Training Programs, along with Quality Improvement Programs, I worked with the following industries:
  1. Healthcare
  2. Publishing
  3. Manufacturing
  4. Aerospace
  5. Mining
  6. Law Enforcement
  7. Fire Departments/EMS
  8. Churches
  9. Construction
  10. Clothing
  11. Chemical
  12. Plastics
  13. Government
  14. Non-Profits
  15. Education
  16. Hospitality
  17. Retail
  18. Military

During my years of experience with these companies, and I always dealt with middle and upper management before training the rank and file employees, most all CEOs, Plant Managers, Presidents, HR Directors have no problem LYING to their employees if it suits the needs of the company.  The needs of the company are goals that adversely affect the employees that the business leaders don't want them to know until the last minute...  fearing they will sabotage the deal or cause harm to the company and/or its products.

In 1962, I became interested in politics because of John F. Kennedy and when I retired in 2015, the same frigging problems that we had in 1962, we still had in 2015...  That tells me that our politicians LIED to us when they said that they wanted to correct things in this country.  They had no desire to correct anything...  All they wanted to do was to get re-elected.

Politicians DO NOT WANT TO CORRECT/FIX:

  1. Racism
  2. Unemployment/Employment
  3. Improve Wages
  4. Inflation
  5. Our Education System
  6. Censorhip of news
  7. Control Illegal Drugs
  8. Take care of our veterans
  9. Tell the truth about UFOs
  10. Our Biased Police Force
  11. Control the growth of technology
  12. Keep healthcare costs down
  13. Our Corrupt Judicial System
  14. Tax our Wealthiest citizens
  15. Curb the growth of wealth
  16. Build/Manufacture products that last longer than 3-5 years
  17. Design an engine that gets 50+ mpg
  18. End poverty

 


Strictly Political



Destroyed My Life Says Former Navy SEAL


Chris Beck, a former Navy SEAL, speaks during a same-sex marriage rally to celebrate the
10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 25, 2014.
(Reuters/Jim Urquhart/File)

A retired Navy SEAL who became famous nearly 10 years ago after coming out as transgender announced he is detransitioning and called on Americans to "wake up" about how transgender health services are hurting children.

"Everything you see on CNN with my face, do not even believe a word of it," Chris Beck, formerly known as Kristin Beck, told conservative influencer Robby Starbuck in an interview published earlier this month. "Everything that happened to me for the last 10 years destroyed my life. I destroyed my life. I'm not a victim. I did this to myself, but I had help."

"I take full responsibility," he continued. "I went on CNN and everything else, and that’s why I’m here right now. I’m trying to correct that."

Beck gained notoriety in 2013 when he spoke with CNN’s Anderson Cooper about transitioning to a woman.

"I was used … I was very naive, I was in a really bad way and I got taken advantage of. I got propagandized. I got used badly by a lot of people who had knowledge way beyond me. They knew what they were doing. I didn’t," he said during the interview.

Beck served in the Navy for 20 years, including on SEAL Team Six. He was deployed 13 times and received more than 50 medals and ribbons for his service.  READ MORE...

Pool Shark


 

Thursday, December 15

Living With Cancer

 I will spend most of the day at the Univ. of TN Medical Center - Cancer Institute getting treated for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and Melanoma...   the melanoma treatment is in the morning and can only take place after seeing the Oncologist.  The Odivo influsion only lasts 30  minutes.   In the afternoon, I receive an influsion of IVIG which is supposed to boost my immune system that is destroyed by the Imbruvica pills that I take daily.

My Opdivo monthly infusions cost $15,000 ($180,000 annually), my IVIG monthly infusions cost $10,000 ($120,000), and my daily Imbruvica costs $12,000 $144,000)...  this total annual cost is $444,000.  This does not include monthly office visits, quarterly CT/PET scans and visits to my cardiologist, urologist, Orthopedic Surgeon, or my family physician.  I would say that my healthcare annual costs are right around $500,000.

And...  the beauty of all of this is that, I do not pay one damn dime except for $6,000 which is my monthly premiums for Medicare and Humana Supplement.  I would say that is a great deal for me...

What is particularly interesting here is that I have been treated for cancer since 2008 or almost 15 years by the end of 2022.

Local healthcare hospitals and Medical Centers have made $7.5 million off of me...  because I have cancer...  and have not died.

I retired in 2015 but having cancer has not slowed down me enjoying my retirement.  It took a while to get used to the fatigue and not being able to do all that I used to do outside, but once that was understood and accepted, my wife and I went on all sorts of vacations all over the world, except for Australia which was too far to travel trying to sleep in a chair that is not very comfortable and that does not recline that far back.

It took me a good 6 months to get to the point where I could walk ok after having 5 lower disks fused together.  Each day, I improve but the data shows that complete recovery will take 12-18 months, so I have another 12 months in front of me.  I try and walk a mile each day which the experts say is the best solution to improve one's abilities.

Getting old is a BITCH...  and learning to live with getting old is a PAIN IN THE ASS but it is something that all of us are going to have to deal with sooner or later.  We don't think about that in our 20s, 30s, or 40s, but once we hit 50, our bodies start to rebel against the lifesytles that we have lived.  We all get old.





American Made - Buy American

We are, I would assume, support the concept of only buying American made...  but, if you were to put the microscope to that concept, it is not that simple.


Why do I say that?


American workers are paid more money here in the the US of A than foreign workers are paid in their countries of China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, etc.   Most of the workers in those countries are not paid for SICK LEAVE or ANNUAL LEAVE or even paid a minimum wage.


WHEREAS...  American workers are paid higher wages, they are paid sick leave, annual leave, paid holidays, and in some cases, companies match retirement savings...


CONSEQUENTLY, products made in the US of A are actually MORE EXPENSIVE as a result of these labor costs, along with the costs of raw materials, and other overhead expenses...


If you want your money to last as long as it can, then you should NOT BUY AMERICAN but buy products that are made in other countries...


There's nothing personal here, its just business...


Do you think the wealthy people buy AMERICAN?


 

Strictly Political

 



China Trying to Replace Dollar with Yuan


At their recent summit in Uzbekistan, members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)—a prominent regional organization led by China and Russia—agreed on a road map to expanding trade in local currencies. A road map for using local currencies in trade and developing alternative payment and settlement systems has been part of the SCO’s economic plan for years.

This agenda is in line with individual policies on the part of the group’s most prominent members, including Russia’s attempt to cushion the blow of Western sanctions, China’s deteriorating relations with the United States, India’s use of nondollar currencies in its trade with Russia, and Iran’s recent proposal for a single SCO currency.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to address development deficits through regional integration, especially by expanding the shares of local currency settlements, strengthening the development of local-currency cross-border payment and settlement systems, and promoting the establishment of an SCO Development Bank.

Xi did not openly discuss the geopolitical risk of U.S. dollar dependence when addressing the recent SCO summit. However, his proposal reflected Chinese leaders’ deep concerns about the vulnerability of the Chinese economy to U.S. dollar hegemony and their desire to develop alternative systems to hedge against the risk of the dollar’s dominance.

Beijing is not, for now, attempting to make the yuan an internationalized currency. It does not seek to dethrone the U.S. dollar and replace the dollar’s dominance in the global system with the yuan. Instead, it is taking steps to make the yuan a regionally powerful currency through local institutions in China and regional intergovernmental organizations such as the SCO. 

Beijing wants to increase the use of the yuan in China’s cross-border trade settlements and investment, reduce its dependence on the dollar, minimize exchange risk and dollar liquidity shortage, and maintain access to global markets during geopolitical crises.

China’s de-dollarization initiatives are not only implemented by the central government in Beijing. Some of the initiatives have also been carried out by local governments and local financial institutions. One example is the Sino-Russian Financial Alliance. In October 2015, China’s Harbin Bank (a city commercial bank) and Russia’s Sberbank (the largest savings bank in Russia by assets) initiated the Sino-Russian Financial Alliance as a nonprofit cross-border financial cooperation organization. 

The alliance’s primary goal is to establish an efficient mechanism to support Sino-Russian trade, facilitate comprehensive bilateral financial cooperation, and promote the use of local currencies in bilateral settlements. This financial alliance had 35 initial members, including 18 Chinese financial institutions (small and medium-sized banks, insurance companies, and trust investment companies) and 17 Russian institutions. When the alliance was launched, Sun Yao, vice governor of Heilongjiang province, said that the alliance “is an important platform to facilitate the development of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.”  READ MORE...

Dancing Dog


 

Wednesday, December 14

Americans LOVE their ILLEGAL DRUGS

WHY ARE SO MANY ILLEGAL DRUGS COMING INTO THE USA?


AMERICANS WANT THEIR ILLEGAL DRUGS...

And that is the really interesting part of this narrative...  illegal drugs would not be coming into this country were it not for the Americans who buy the damn drugs.

Basic economics deals with the relationship between supply and demand.  If the demand is there then someone will provide the supply...

If the USA wants to stop the supply of drugs they must first convince Americans not to want illegal drugs...  For some reason, American are demanding an increase in illegal drugs...  and, it would be interesting to know why this demand is increasing...  What causes Americans to demand illegal drugs???

East TN is not considered to be the mecca of variety as one would expect from NYC, WashingtonDC, Atlanta, Chicago, LA, Vegas, Maimi, and other large metropolitan areas...  BUT...  we have illegal drugs being distributed in our elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools...   Why is this happening here in East TN???

If it is happening here, you can just imagine what it is like in these big and bigger cities.

The real question that no one is addressing is WHY are AMERICANS DEMANDING THESE ILLEGAL DRUGS???


America is Just as Corrupt

We think of corrupt governments as being those in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, China, etc., because of the way their governments are managed and controlled and because they really don't incorporate the rule of law or honor freedoms like we do here in the US of A.


However, the US of A is just as corrupt and evil as all the other countries we just create a smoke screen that we hide behind making us more hypocritical...

Our politicians are corrupt.
Our business leaders are corrupt.
Our educational system is corrupt.
Our judicial system is corrupt.
Our churches are corrupt.

The US of A bends or breaks the rules to suit our purpose.  Our CIA supports the Drug Cartels so that the CIA can sell drugs to finance covert operations in foreign countries to influence and in some cases change their government, forcing them to support the US of A at the United Nations.

The US of A creates wars so that our engineering companies can profit from the rebuilding that takes place in those countries after the war.

The US of A took land away from the Native Americans here as well as from the Mexicans because we were stronger and wanted that land...  the exact same thing that Putin is doing in the Ukraine.  We say Putin is wrong in what he does but we were somehow justified???

Business leaders sit in church on Sundays and are deacons in the church sometimes, then on Mondays go to work and treat the workers as if they have no Christian beliefs in their hearts and souls at all.  They lie and steal time from the workers.  The manipulate and use the workers then fire them if they complain.  Management of American companies treat the workers as if they are second class citizens.  Then go to church on Sundays and teach Sunday School classes to children teaching the values of being a good Christian ALL THE TIME.

Most Americans lie on their income taxes
Break the speed limits when driving
Use their influence to go to the head of the line
Use their influence to break the law and not be prosecuted
Use their influence to get their children out of jail

The US of A is no different than China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia and in some cases we might be more evil because we pretend not to be evil.  The US of A will do anything (and I mean anything) to win...  don't underestimate our GREED.

New Data Transfer Record


A team of researchers has reportedly set a new data transmission world record.

The international group from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden used a single light source to transmit 1.8 petabits per second.

In a release, DTU said that they were the first in the world to transmit more than 1 petabit per second – corresponding to 1 million gigabits – using only a single laser and a single optical chip called a "frequency comb."

"In the experiment, the researchers succeeded in transmitting 1.8 Pbit/s, which corresponds to twice the total global Internet traffic," they wrote. "And only carried by the light from one optical source. The light source is a custom-designed optical chip, which can use the light from a single infrared laser to create a rainbow spectrum of many colors, i.e. many frequencies. Thus, the one frequency (color) of a single laser can be multiplied into hundreds of frequencies (colors) in a single chip."

The colors are fixed at a specific frequency distance from each other like the teeth on a comb, which is why it is called a frequency comb.

"Each color (or frequency) can then be isolated and used to imprint data. The frequencies can then be reassembled and sent over an optical fibre, thus transmitting data. Even a huge volume of data, as the researchers have discovered," DTU explained.

Victor Torres Company, a professor at Chalmers University of Technology, said that the chip has ideal characteristics for fiber-optical communications, with "high optical power" and covering a "broad bandwidth within the spectral region that is interesting for advanced optical communications."  READ MORE...

Stock Market Explained


 

Tuesday, December 13

A Conservative Liberal Speaks Out

I was a Kennedy Democrat but because the Democratic Party has become progressive and is moving towards Socialism, I am just a Liberal who has strong conservative values because I believe in a balance budget and being debt free.


I would especially like the idea that all illegal drugs should be legalized because Americans should be allowed to decide for themselves if they want to become a drug addict or for that matter an alcoholic.  Yes, it may impact our healthcare system but it is still their choice...  the same holds true for females and abortion.  It does not matter what the reason or the excuse, if a female wants an abortion she should be able to make that choice and live with the responsibility of that choice.   AND...  the same holds true for a male who wants to become a female or a female who wants to become a male...  It is their choice and not the choice of the government.


We should be able to say what we want to say when we want to say it...  and if I don't like what you have to say...  tough shit on me...  you should be able to say it and that's that.  To rob us of our freedom of speech is a violation of our constitutional rights.  If you want to change the constitution that is your right as well...  have at it...

 

Finally, I believe in a strong military and a small federal government...  Government should stay the hell out of my business and our military should have the ability to KICK ASS of any country in the world, if it needs to from a defensive point of view not an aggressive point of view.


I don't believe in wars and I will never own a handgun even though I have the right to do so...  I choose not to...  what other explanation is there other than NO WARS and no wars so that we can get rich rebuilding other countries.


Business leaders should pay a fair wage and make a fair profit but management has NO RIGHT to make the high salaries that they make...  they are just not worth it...  and, this is from someone who has been in middle and upper management for 40 or my 45 year career...  I was in management because I earned an MBA with a focus in strategic planning.  But, the wealth of the company should be divided among the staff, employees, customers, stockholders, vendors, and the community.   WE SHOULD ALL BE IN THIS LIFE TOGETHER...


These are the views of a conservative liberal...