My Bucket List

 There was a movie not too long ago, entitled Bucket List or something like that, staring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nickolson, as two terminally ill cancer patients.  Nickolson was a billionaire.  The two made a list of the things they would like to do before they died.  Of course, for Freeman, it was pure fantasy but for Nickolson, he had the money to make it happened and invited Freeman to experience their bucket list.  He was reluctant but there would have been no movie if he had not agreed.

Well...  that is all fine and good...  and the concept made for an entertaining movie and the contrast between black and white...  since death and dying does not discriminate.

In 2015, my wife and I retired.  I was 67 and she was 62.  For the first few years before COVID, we traveled somewhere all the time, both inside the USA and overseas into Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska, and Hawaii.

COVID hit and we did not go anywhere to speak of for two years if my memory serves me well other than Myrtle Beach, SC, bring disinfectant, masks, and gloves with us.  A baggy to put the TV remote into.  We did not wear gloves and masks on the beach or inside our condo once we cleaned it and refused daily maid service.

NOW... back to the bucket list...

Well...  I don't have a bucket list...

Hard to believe, I know...

But, there is nothing else I really want or need to do...

• I don't have a desire to try and become wealthy
• I don't have a desire to skydive
• I don't want to see China or Australia
• I don't want to stay in a $1,500/day hotel room
• I don't want to fly first class overseas in an aircraft
• I don't want to experience zero gravity in space
• I don't want to visit all 50 states
• I don't want to cruise around the world
• I don't want to fly in a blimp
• I don't want to see Artica or Antarctica
• We are already debt free
• There is no possible way for me to be cancer free
• I don't want to wax the hair off my body
• I don't want to see the ocean floor
• I already experience regular bowel movements
• I have already written several novels
• I don't need anymore friends
• We've already downsized to the perfect house
• I don't need to win at chess or checkers
• I don't want to learn backgammon
• I don't want to have sex with a humanoid sex robot

The Aging Process

At 76 years of age, I understand all too well the aging process on those who are not financially well off.

If you are wealthy, nothing really bothers you because you will always have the best of everything even though it might have taken you a while to get there.

As for the rest of us, we by default are not so lucky.  The wealthy say it is our fault that we are not wealthy.  Anyone in the USA can become wealthy if they want it.  However, these wealthy people fail to see flaw in that logic because it takes a SPECIFIC PERSONALITY to become wealthy and less than ten percent have that personality.

But what about aging?

Some of us understand this at 60 while other understand this a little older but not much.  

Why do I say it this way?

YES...  it is true that age is just a number.  And that it is possible to fool your mind into thinking you are not old.

How is this done?

• Healthy diet
• Exercise
• Pills
• No pre-existing conditions

I don't understand this, give me an example, you ask...

Ok...  here's the example.

Aside from normal childhood illnesses, I was never sick in my entire life and never went to the doctor for anything except my teeth, until I was 60...

• I had stopped eating red meat at age 40
• I had stopped drinking alcohol at age 40
• I had stopped eating fried food at age 40
• I had stopped smoking cigarettes at age 40
• I fast walked 3-5 miles a day - 7 days a week

What happened?

1. I was diagnosed with cancer
2. I experienced at triple bypass level heart attack
3. My cancer treatments gave me another cancer
4. I was left with low immunity, with anemia, and constantly fatigued

I can still tell myself that age is just a number and believe what I say but my physical body now sees my age and it is more than just a number.

My brother, on the other hand, is 68 and still has never been sick in his entire life, except for having COVID which left no side effects.  At 68, he physically feels like he is 50 years old.  So, for him, age is just a number.  He cannot understand why I feel the way that I do...  He might feel 68 years old when he is 88 years old...  and for him, age will still be a number.

BTW - he also has lost no hair...

Freedom

Illegal Immigrants want to come to the USA because we are the land of opportunities and freedoms...

REALLY???

First of all - illegal immigrants get into the USA by BREAKING THE LAW...

If they were willing to break the law to get here, how many of our laws do you think they will follow?

Second of all - those liberal sanctuary cities that claimed to want the illegal immigrants are now saying there is TOO DAMN MANY of them and to please stay away...

This means that the freedoms that you thought you were going to have by coming here are rapidly disappearing.

Third of all - freedom is something with which you are born or with which you EARN...

Being illegal might get you a work permit but it will get you very little else.

Most of the freedoms that you came here to receive will not be given to you...  at least not for a while...  so, my advice is to stay down south where it is warm because you are likely going to be sleeping in tents on the ground.

There will not be an endless of supply of housing for you...

There will not be an endless supply of food for you...

There will not be an endless supply of healthcare for you...

There will not be an endless supply of jobs waiting for you...

There will not be an endless supply of police protection for you...

A MAJORITY OF REAL AMERICANS THOSE WHO WERE BORN HERE AND IMMIGRATED LEGALLY DON'T WANT YOU HERE!!!

These are the only freedoms that you will be receiving from us.

Of course, this is only my personal opinion, and my opinion means very little.  The liberals say you have the freedom to do anything you want...  but what the liberals say is only going to last until November of 2024...

 

Russia BANS LGBTQ+ Movement

Russia's Supreme Court yesterday declared the international LGBTQ+ rights movement an extremist organization in the latest and most severe legal move against LGBTQ+ activism in the country.

Detroit's Electric Road

The city of Detroit opened the country's first road capable of wirelessly charging electric vehicles as they drive this week, a key step toward wider adoption of the technology. The quarter-mile demonstration project is meant to show the feasibility of wireless charging as a supplement to an eventual nationwide charging network for electric vehicles.

EXPELLED!!!

George Santos’ exit sets up a competitive special election© Provided by MSNBC

GOP Rep. George Santos’ expulsion from the House is set to kick off a competitive New York special election in territory where Democrats won comfortably in 2020 but Republicans have made a series of recent gains.

And the battle to replace Santos could shape up as a test of both parties’ strategies ahead of 2024.

Dueling Banjos

 

Global Happenings

Israel, Hamas swap 16 hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners in sixth and final day of temporary cease-fire deal amid talks over another possible extension (More) | See updates on the war (More)

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passes away at age 100 (More) | 

US life expectancy rose in 2022 to 77.5 years from 76.4 years in 2021, according to latest government data; rise is still below prepandemic levels and mainly due to waning COVID-19 pandemic (More) | Record high of 49,449 people died by suicide in the US in 2022, up 3% from 2021 (More)

Wild Animals Fight

 

My Hat's Off to December

Today starts the beginning of a new month...  in case you have not been paying attention, it is the month of December...  LOL

This month also marks the end of 2023 and we have until the last day of the month to make deductions to charities or to IRAs to get a tax deduction.  December also marks the end of the fourth quarter and when most businesses must count and report the value of their inventories.

I remember working at a company on December 31 until almost midnight helping them count their inventory and missed the New Year's Eve Party I had been invited to.  This was good because I had stopped drinking years before and would have been ridiculed for not drinking.  I remember someone telling me that you could not trust a man unless he was willing to have a drink or two or three or four.

December does not mean much to me, unless it is Christmas and I am not into institutionalized religion, nor am I into the Bible because there are so many discrepancies within that textbook it leads me to not to believe what else is in there.

The biggest discrepancy is the timeline and the Bible saying the world is only 6,000 year old.  Elementary School Science classes prove that statement wrong.  I have mentioned this to you before that if you tell me God and Jesus are extraterrestrials, then I might pay more attention to you.

Most of the people at Christmas time think more about buying and receiving presents than they do about the religious implications of Christmas.  However, at my age of 76, there is just not much I want or need at Christmas, unless it is a Starbuck's Gift Card.  Whenever I go to Starbuck's I get a Venti Vanilla Cappuccino.  It was $3.50 and nowadays, it is $6.50...  I will not spend my own money on Starbuck's coffee as it is a bad investment, but I will use a gift card.

For me, December is a month where not much happens especially outside.  I usually have mowed/mulched up the leaves by now.  The gutters have all been cleaned and there is no reason to go down into my small work and spend time categorizing and labeling.  I will do that again when it warms up.

If I walk at all now, it will not be outside but at the community center for a dollar each day.  Sixteen times around the upstairs track and you have completed a mile.  It has heat as well and the cold from the downstairs entrance door does not filter up to the second floor.  It is usually not crowded.

We have recycle and garbage pick up so I will go outside to put those cans on the side of the road and bring them back.

Other than that, December is usually the month that is spent inside, trying to find a decent movie or series to watch on Hulu, Netflix, or Prime.  Most of the stuff is garage from my perspective and everything I try to watch, I done with trying in 10 minutes.

Galloping Horse

 

Observing Something Rare

Astronomers have observed a rare instance of a solar system inside the Milky Way whose planets orbit in sync around their host star, according to a study published yesterday. Researchers believe the motion of the planets has remained virtually unchanged since the system's formation roughly 4 billion years ago.

The four closest planets display what is known as 3:2 resonance—for every three orbits a planet makes around the host star, the next farthest planet completes two orbits. The next two planets display a similar 4:3 resonance. Typically, newborn systems are knocked out of balance by some disruptive event (for example, collisions with asteroids). Because the planets in question have maintained their original orbits, their study is expected to shed light on the early stages of star system formation.

The host star is also the brightest discovered to date to have more than four planets orbiting around it. Visualize the motion of the six planets here.

Honky Tonk Woman

 

Gender Identification

Do you remember the song entitled, LOLA?  It was written and recorded by The Kinks and released in 1970.  "Man, I'm a man and so was Lola..." 

That was over 50 years ago and well before the LGBTQ+ movement.

So, could The Kinks see into the future?

NO...

Gender identification has been going on well before the birth of JESUS...  in case you are wondering...

• Boys wanting to be girls
• Girls wanting to be boys

I think, deep down inside, there are thousands of males both married and single, who have fantasized more than once about being with individuals who have both male and female equipment.

And, it certainly is a TABOO subject because the general public does not want to talk about their desires in public.

Scientifically, it makes sense that the more babies that a society gives birth to, the higher the risks of having DNA variations and misassignments...  which also includes babies being born with both genitalia.

I also believe that males should be able to marry males and females should be able to marry females.  I also believe that boy can become girls and girls can become boys once they are old enough to be aware of the consequences of those decisions.

Therein lies the problem...

What age does that kind of awareness take place?

What I am opposed to is biological males playing females sports and biological females playing male sports.

Society has gone too far.

However,

what about TRANS SPORTS?

Paradigms

 What is a paradigm?
A paradigm is a standard, perspective, or set of ideas. A paradigm is a way of looking at something. The word paradigm comes up a lot in the academic, scientific, and business worlds. A new paradigm in business could mean a new way of reaching customers and making money.

This is exactly what is happening in the USA...  we are in disharmony because we have different paradigms.

We simply see things differently.

When two people see things differently, it is difficult to reach a compromise.

If it is difficult to make a compromise, then very little gets accomplished and there is NO PROGRESS MADE.

Progress only takes place by those who:

• ARE IN POWER
• ARE EXTREMELY WEALTHY

In these two situations you don't need a compromise and you are betting that you were right all along...

But, what if you are wrong?

Examples of Paradigms

• Permitting Illegal Immigration 
• Defunding the police
• Ending reliance on fossil fuels
• Raising taxes
• Believing China is not a threat
• Anti-Jewish movement
• Believing Trump is a Fascist

Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong with Paradigms as long as you are willing to step outside of what you perceive and allow yourself to see things a little differently...

This used to happen but no longer...

Paradigms is why we have a 50% divorce rate in the the USA.

And, why this rate has remained at 50% for over 3 decades.

Paradigms is what prevents people from solving problems and designing or creating new inventions.

They just cannot see what is right in front of them.

BUT HOW DO YOU STOP PEOPLE FROM HAVING PARADIGMS?

Unpacking Politics

Liberals believe in:

• Large government
• High Taxes
• Few states rights
• Government handouts
• Management is the enemy

 

Conservatives believe in:

• Small government
• Low taxes
• Lots of states rights
• Few government handouts
• Labor is the enemy

However, it is not that CUT & DRY, but this is basically their differences.

The liberals believe that government knows what is best for the people while the conservatives believe the people know what's best for themselves as long as you give them a little help.

CAPITALISM - is an economic theory that revolves around the free-market enterprise system and the invisible hand concept.  This theory has the supply and demand model as the main component of the system around which decisions are made. 

How much to produced based upon what the consumer wants to buy or is demanding. 

Sometimes, decisions are wrong and the companies lose money, but for the most part, the system allows for the businesses to THRIVE and the workers to MAKE DO - or keep their heads above water.

It is at this point in time that the liberal's step in to balance the scales so that more and more of the wealth is shared with the worker either through the willing company or through taxes or through government programs for the workers.

The invisible hand theory says businesses will self-regulate and will not do something that harms them or causes their destruction.

The liberals do not believe that this will happen or is happening.

HOWEVER, since congress does not move very fast, the wealthy are able to HIDE most of their money away from taxes...  so, whenever the liberals want to raise taxes, it does not bother them that much.  And, the government NEVER gets what it really needs through that form of taxation.

ANSWER:  borrow money or print money- neither solution is good for the economy.

BUT - politics does not care because one of the reasons that congress moves slowly is because they care more about re-election than they do about helping the American General Public.

CURRENTLY - the liberals are in a bind because they need capitalism to fund their liberal agendas of offering more programs so those people will vote for them.

At some point in time POLITICS is going to have to pay off the NATIONAL DEBT...  otherwise, the USA will go bankrupt which is hard to believe that will ever happen.

One of the quickest ways to solve this problem is to stop the WEALTHY FROM HIDING THEIR MONEY FROM TAXES...

New USA Aircraft Carrier

 

Dark Matter Hiding in Collider's Particle Jets

A new search for dark matter has turned up empty handed — but, in a silver lining, the effort provided important limits that will help future experiments narrow down the hunt for this elusive substance.

Most astronomers believe that dark matter accounts for 85 percent of all mass in the universe, and that its existence would explain the apparent extra gravity detectable around galaxies and within huge galaxy clusters. However, so far, no one has been able to identify what dark matter is made of.    READ MORE...

Female Dancers

 

We Give Away

When I was growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, I remember my parents when they replaced something (not including automobiles), they would give that item away to a needy family as identified by members of the Methodist Church to which they belonged.

In my first marriage that lasted for 23 years, I was never in a position to give anything away because everything we purchased stayed with us until we divorced although like our parents we would trade in our old vehicles for new ones.

During my second marriage, I never purchased a new vehicle only vehicles that were a year old and had been leased.   While families around us had yard sells to make money off of items they were replacing or no longer using or needed, my wife and I gave those items away and never sold anything.

Although my wife did participate in yard sales but the items she brought for sale, if all were purchased, she would make less than $10.  She was there mainly for the conversation of being with friends and neighbors.

We have given away living room suites, kitchen tables, refrigerators, stoves, microwaves, riding lawn mowers, 50 inch televisions, and dish washers to name a few either to people we knew that had a need or we called Habitat for Humanity and gave it to them.

Did we need the money?   Not really...

Could we have used the extra money?   Yes...

We just thought it was better to help people that were worse off than us.  And with that said, my wife and I for the last 30 years of being together have been in the lower middle class...  which means we are well off but not that well off.

When we give it away are we trying to be GOOD CHRISTIANS?  No...  not really...

We are trying to be good neighbors...

Are we expecting to get paid back somehow some way?  No...

We are not against people having yard sells we just see our purpose in this life a little differently.