January 21, 2025

I think I'm getting a glimpse of the Dems strategy going forward

And I neither agree nor disagree with it. I believe that the Dems leaders have decided to sit back and let it rain shit on America until they have to swoop in as the only viable alternative and save the day in four years. I think that they believe that they put the best message forward in the last election and got soundly rejected. Now people need to feel the repercussions of the other message over the next four years to realize how dumb they've been in the past.
I expect the Dems to sit back and nonchalantly point out the repercussions of trumpian policies over the next four years but not much else. Let them eat cake.

December 4, 2024

I have never felt akin to Atheists nor believers

Maybe you feel the same way, maybe not. I feel that neither group can really ever know that a God exists or doesn't exist but both groups seem absolutely certain that their ideology is the correct one. How could either really know?

I have always felt that the personification of some supernatural diety is nothing more than a self-serving view propagated by religious systems seeking power over their "flocks" for the sole purpose of building their own empires of dominance. Conversely, the non-believers gather around the idea of A-theism in what can only be described as an opposition to all the belief systems they reject.

I simply do not what to believe in fairytales or define my beliefs as the opposite of those fairytales. I don't find either side an ideology that I can get behind.

My question would have to be; What would a world that never had a concept of a diety or a concept of an opposition to the idea of a diety look like?

November 15, 2024

Have you heard of the W.E.P.? I have for good reasons

The House just voted 'yes' on a bill that would increase Social Security checks for some pensioners
Published Wed, Nov 13 2024 2:50 PM EST
Lorie Konish

KEY POINTS
●Certain rules that reduce pensioners' Social Security benefits have been in place for decades.
●House lawmakers voted to approve a bill that would nix those rules.
●Critics say more comprehensive Social Security reform should be prioritized instead.

A bipartisan bill to change Social Security benefit rules for pensioners passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, with 327 lawmakers voting to support the measure.

Now, the proposal heads to the Senate, where the chamber's version of the bill has 62 co-sponsors, "surpassing the majority needed to pass the bill on the U.S. Senate floor and send it to the president's desk to be signed into law," Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garret Graves, R-La., co-leaders of the bill, said in a joint statement.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/13/house-just-voted-yes-to-increase-social-security-for-some-beneficiaries.html

Why this matters. I retired a few years ago but haven't begun collecting Social Security until this month because I was waiting for my full retirement income at 66 and 8 months. Because I worked some portion of my life as a civil servant, I have both a defined benefit pension and social security income. However, because I have both, my social security is reduced by 1/3 thanks to the W.E.P. (Windfall Elimination Provision). This provision is outdated and really only penalizes people that worked in civil service jobs at this point.
Oddly enough, the only time I actually wrote to the Biden Administration, I asked them to address this issue. Never heard back from them but suddenly this looks like it might happen. I'm shocked to be honest. They've talked about doing this for years but it might actually happen.
BTW. I started collecting my first SS payment this week and the W.E.P. was applied.

November 14, 2024

If you want to make the next 4 years tolerable.

Here is my suggestion. Stop spending. The low hanging fruit is things like Tesla, Amazon, and other high dollar supporters of MAGATs. They call us the elites so let's show them the power of the purse. Save your money. Let the economy crater over the next 4 years. These people that voted on the economy will see exactly how bad the MAGATs are at managing an economy that is running up against a strong headwind. Kick it all off on Inauguration Day with a pledge to buy nothing on January 20th. We have the power if only we decide to use it. And there is nothing they can do to combat this protest. What good are tariffs if nobody is buying anything? We control the economy. Let's use that power.

November 13, 2024

The inevitable Constitutional crisis

Authoritarians do not and cannot work within the framework of a constitution or other institutional guardrails. They inevitably force a constitutional crisis that is either acquiesced to or becomes a rallying cry for the opposition and leads to the authoritarian's downfall. Which will it be? I don't believe Trump is capable of masterminding a serious governmental takeover, especially considering his obvious mental health decline, but I do believe that there are enough craven ideologues in his orbit, and soon his cabinet, that are capable of damaging even the most established institutional safeguards if not eliminating them completely. Examples of openly discussed targets are the EPA, the Department of Education, and the military. Since the courts refused to prosecute Trump's past crimes, he is completely free to go even further this time around. What can we expect? The inevitable constitutional crisis in my opinion. It's just a matter of when and which institutions will stand, and which institutions will fall. Hang on. This ride is going to be bumpy.

November 10, 2024

When reason fails

"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."

~J. Swift

I think that is where we find ourselves today. When reason fails, all other options are on the table.

November 9, 2024

Prediction: First piece of legislation will be a giant tax cut for the wealthy

Deficit be damned at this point. The rich donors want what they paid for and they are first in line.

The MAGATs are too dumb to even notice. Ain't we got fun?

November 9, 2024

Welcome to the kakistocracy ladies and gentlemen

The least competent, the least qualified, the least capable, the least educated, the least able to even begin to govern rationally are now in charge of our country.
Is our political system really producing the "best and the brightest"? Not so much. I think this experiment in democracy has run its course. We just haven't realized it yet.

October 21, 2024

Trump is an emotional toddler

If you're lucky, you've never had to deal with an adult that is an emotional toddler. You have never had to deal with the insecurities, the irrationality, the hyper-drama, and the temper tantrums. The same behaviors often seen in narcissistic personalities that often mimic kids going through the "terrible twos". Emotional immaturity in an adult is not the type of personality trait that you want to see in your President.
As a sign in someone's front yard said: HARRIS Obviously!

October 5, 2024

The week from hell

What a week it has been. My spouse and I are retired. We have had my spouse's mother in our lives and our kids lives for 30 years. We lived near her, she has lived with us during COVID, and after we retired begged her to move out west with us. She was stubborn and independent and stayed. We got her into assisted living and called and visited every 3 months. My spouse took care of all of her appointments and helped her with everything she needed for the entire 30 years we had her in out lives. She lived alone and we figured we were all she had. There are however, two other siblings. To call them useless and entitled is an understatement.

Over the past few months, our mother's health has rapidly deteriorated and was in need of a much higher level of care than the assisted living could provide. We spent 10K moving her out near us and covered the cost of the higher-level care from our retirement income. Both siblings initially said that they refused to contribute a dime towards the care needed. One sibling eventually contributed a small portion of money to help us cover the monthly cost. The other one said absolutely not. She is the one that came for a visit this past week. She is a card-carrying narcissist and as delusional as they come. She has raised hell the entire week until we simply stopped allowing her to communicate with us.

My spouse has power of attorney for health care. The other sibling has power of attorney for finances. The one visiting has no power of anything, is hated by her mother, and deludes herself into believing that only she knows what their mother would want. The mother has spent the 30 years telling us that she didn't want any kind of extraordinary medical procedures of any kind and signed a DNR 12 years ago. We know everything about her final wishes and to the burial details. The case worker was amazed that we had every single document signed and ready to go at the first care conference. The hated daughter had no idea any of these documents even existed. Why would she? She hasn't seen her mother in years because we always had to pay her way.

I know this long and probably a pretty typical storyline but the hell we just went through with this holy terror is unimaginable. There is no inheritance, no property, nothing of value. The insanity is strictly due to one sick individual and her delusions.