Quanda what?

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Quandary: “a state of perplexity, or uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation, a dilemma.” So says the Oxford Dictionary.

Ever been in a quandary? Near one? Seen one from afar? Picture a mime trying to get out of a real box.

We all probably know what a quandary is, just never knew what to call it. If it helps, picture our modern world: one, big quandary. Dilemma. Perplexity.

Our country mired in a quandary is not new. The Civil War, Viet Nam. Nixon. September 11, 2001. The Spanish Flu. WWI. WWII. The Great Depression. The last, final, episode of “Friends”. To prevent depression, I’ll stop.

Quandary. The Oxford people say it comes from the late 16th century Latin word “quando”, which means “when”. So “when” became “quandary”? Thanks, Oxford, for a new perplexity. They do add an interesting chart showing how popular “quandary” has become over the centuries, with a plateau of usage in 2000. What did educated people use before quandary came along? Mess? Dilemma? Pile of crap? And why plateau at year 2000? Has the quantity of qualified quandaries declined in the last 20 years?

That fact proves there isn’t as much “perplexity” now as there used to be. Early days were probably nothing but quandaries. Imagine the first sunset? Did early man/woman know the sun would be back in a few hours or was he/she in a quandary, wondering where it went? What about when he/she had their first bowel movement? Did they think their insides were falling out? Talk about a dilemma. “Should we push it back in?”

Perfect segue into Donald Trump. He is a Master Quandary Maker. How perplexed must Republican voters and politicians have been to support him in the first election, let alone the second. Did any 2016 voters face the “dilemma” of voting for the felonious Trump in 2024? Were they perplexed? Dilemmed(sic)? Quandrasized(sic)? Uncertain?

It doesn’t appear they were. In fact, a feature of Trump support is the CERTAIN, unwavering, unperplexed knowledge that Trump is…something. What? What is Trump outside of politics? Is he a fabulously wealthy man, born with a silver spoon, who has never worked an honest day in his life? The Second Coming? A taller, hairier Napolean? A spray-tanned Mussolini? Putin’s long-lost brother?

Let’s go back to the original: he is quandary. Unperplexed American voters have ceded so much power to Trump, why is he not using it to remove all quandaries from our lives? Or at least his voters lives? Why isn’t he un-perplexing our perplexities? Why is he doing what he is doing? Does he need more money? Power? Maybe he just wants a good pizza. Or is it Melania, the new Nancy Reagan?

I surrender. It’s usually years before we can accurately assess the damage/benefit an American President effects over his/her (Sarcasm.) term in office.  It appears Trump is trying to write that assessment, now, after one month. Or at least keep anyone else from writing it, ever.

It’s hard to know what to make of it all. It’s a quandary. For those of us without any power over rich, selfish people, it’s more than a quandary: it is a disaster.

Happily, yes, happily, I’m old, almost out of it all, another benefit of old age.

Hallelujah.

Information/Misinformation Facebook Test

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I was never a Facebook (FB) user until The Calamities, struck, and even then, not until movies and online gambling lost their luster and some of my money. There is a FB account with my name, opened by me 8 or 9 years ago, but it was avoided for a long time after I got tired of (belatedly) apologizing to everyone wishing me Happy Birthday. FYI: I was advised to use the wrong birth date so scammers couldn’t steal my identity. Apologies, yet again, to those birthday wishers.

A year ago I returned to daily use, flush with time to waste and the excitement of tracking down old friends, and maybe making new ones. Those particular excitements met the same fate as my surgically removed, damaged hip bones when it became apparent Facebook is not what it promised to be. Most people I wanted to contact were probably already done with FB and moved on to other sites. Making new friends was impossible as others were too leery of scams and idiots to respond to “unwelcomed” or “uninvited” posts.

Now, I visit four times a week  for about 5 minutes to see if any of the “bait” sent out years ago ever gets a bite. Nancy, an old flame from 60 years ago, has a presence on FB but her bait hasn’t been taken, yet, and it was put out there from the very beginning. As an explanation of why Nancy might not have answered, my mom’s account is still there, 8 years after her death. (Typing this has reminded me to find out how to “decease” her from FB.)

In my visits, now, I am polite enough to scroll through the new comments and check all areas where FB might allow notifications of a possible happy, joyous, reunion.

While perusing, however, there is the occasional posting of bull$$$%, money scams, lunacy and other things that makes the human race so…diverse. While easily ignored, and blocked or hidden, the reposting of bull$$$%, money scams and lunacy irked the crap out of me this particular morning. It was a regurgitated re-post of an oft-debunked political story re-posted as gospel with all the attendant, politically correct adverbs, adjectives, snarkiness, and hubris marking it a biased piece of crap. I won’t identify its origin, but I will not stoop to the “everyone does it” surrender, either…next time. I had a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast, so it must have been the raging blizzard outside that inspired an ire so great I “replied” to the post. It was a logical, nonjudgmental reply remarking how re-posting on FB is a “human problem” we should all avoid until we have done our own research.

I regretted my remarks one second before I hit the send button. Unfortunately, my aged response time from thought to action is two seconds so…there it was, on FB: me, taking a stand.

The menu button called my name, begging me to block the person I’d posted to, but then,…, then I realized: FB should not be a monster terrorizing polite, sane contributors, it should be a place for free, open, and honest discussion. (I’ll pause while you giggle, laugh snort, or smack your forehead.)

Que sera, sera. I’ll check back next morning and exercise better judgement when all the replies start flowing. Hm. Maybe no one will notice? And for my own unease, I will comfort myself with the premise of a “test”, a purposeful attempt to see how bad FB (and social media) really is. (Are?)

And if you never hear from me again, check my FB account. There might be clues…

America Great, Again? No. America Gone.

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In 2024, 77 million people voted for Trump. 75 million voted for Harris. 90 million did not vote. 2024 might have been the last chance for those 90 million to vote in a presidential election.

The long game of Trump and the Modern Republican Party (MRP) is to turn America into Russia, with Trump the New Putin and MRP members lining up–and butt kissing– to be Trump’s/Putin’s successor.

From the early 1800’s on, America’s Federal Government—our government–has been designed and built to protect the American Citizen. The normal, AVERAGE American citizen. It’s easy to see this defense in terms of war: The United States, for example saved the world during a war fought an foreign ground in the 1940s.

But the biggest government “wars” have been fought against American Businesses. Once America settled on Capitalism as our new religion, innovative intelligent entrepreneurs began to find ways to make money. Lots of money. Slavery was an important part of many entrepreneurs business plans. The “free” and “low-priced” labor of slaves, immigrants, and poor whites made many an American Businessman rich.

And the lack of regulation or rules benefited new American companies, as well. The leather industry, for example, dumped used tanning chemicals into the nearest river since there was no cost and the free water carried the chemicals away, to be someone else’s problem. The Acid rain of the 1970’s is a perfect example of unregulated pollution from a specific industry. (Young people, you’ll have to research that since I’ve little space, here.)

It became apparent to intelligent people unregulated commerce and industry was not beneficial for America—or it’s citizen–in the long run. The newly forming financial institutions needed to be monitored, as well, as most Americans were completely ignorant of loans, mortgages, and banking “stuff”. Think Henry Potter in “It’s A Wonderful Life.” (Again, google it.)

At the prodding of angry citizens, the Government of the United States proceeded to design and implement regulatory systems to protect the citizens from capitalist profit seeking. Regulations eventually banned slavery, 7-day work weeks, 20 hour work days, and other unfair labor practices. In addition, regulations enforced pollution controls to stop, for instance, a chemical plant from disposing of its waste in the clean rivers, lakes, and streams of America.

And the Government funded the armies, navies, and air forces to defend America.

It’s easy to see why the Capitalist Businesses of America began to see government as a “problem”, while the “Government” began to see Businesses as problem creators. A natural adversarial relationship developed and a “balance” blossomed, a symbiotic relationship between Government and Business lasting for hundreds of years. I’m not sure what “Make America Great Again” means but modern actions by Trump indicate MAGA wants to go back to the era of NO REGULATION. Republicans have historically been anti-government/probusiness in the last two centuries, so the sentiment is not new. Democrats assumed the roll of pro-government, understanding government regulations mainly benefitted the poor, average, and middle class sections of America as citizens needed a powerful entity to protect them against the rich, powerful businesses. The relationship has never been perfect, but it worked.

Until the last 20-30 years. When Republicans get political power, they dismantle regulations as fast as they can. Why? To increase business profits. And once a regulation is gone, it takes a convoluted process to get it back. The Reagan and both Bush Presidents were regulatory purge-fests, orchestrated and instituted within the framework of a constitutional government…mostly..

But now we have Trump. And two other problems.

  1. Fox News. In their zeal to be Number 1 in cable news in the 1990s, they broadcast their version of the truth. We now have two generations raised on Fox News.
  2. The Internet. In the days before the internet, a crazy conspiracy or nut-job character, were isolated to their region or community. Now, a flat earther in Iowa (no Offense) can connect with a flat earther in China. (again, no offense.)

If we mix in Trump’s ego, we end up with the volatile mix threatening our nation. Trump was born into money and has no concept of anything remotely “normal” about America. He is a billionaire with the usual hunger for more billions and regulations get in his way. His response is Shakespearean: “Out, out damn regulations.”

In our modern world millionaires grow on trees, and all the millionaires want to BE billionaires, so there is a large segment of American Business caring about nothing but profits.

Trump now sees the opportunity to dismantle the “regulatory state” and guarantee unfettered profit-seeking for all millionaires, billionaires, and soon to be trillionaires. Screw the environment. And screw the people.

Even worse, Trump is following the Putin Model (google it) for tearing down a democracy and setting himself up, Trump, to be America’s Putin. He is purging the remaining parts of the government of anyone who doesn’t support him, and if we let it happen, 2022 may be the last time we ever have free and fair elections.

America will finally be great, again?

PS Trump wants to dismantle the Education Department? A statement attributed to Thomas Jefferson explains why: “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”

Jackson Browne, a benefit of old age and progress

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From memory: music at age 10 (in 1960) was late night AM radio. At 13, it was a “box” record player for 45 rpm, two sided records, one song each side, A and B. At 15 it was a “monoaural” stereo placed next to the bed so sleep could be induced by listening to the big albums of Steppenwolf, The Troggs, The Kinks. The Kingsmen, and et.al. Age 17, a real stereo. At college, I learned how much sound ceiling-high, high-fidelity speakers could make, and how all my old favorites sounded “different”. Volume was important and if anyone complained, it was ignored and counted as an honor. 8 tracks, cassettes, Cds, MP3 and others followed, but I have no clue where the free music on Youtube comes from these days

The point I’m trying to get to (when not sidetracked by reminiscing), is music seemed to have evolved over time in partnership with the devices offering the sounds. Hmph. That’s not really the point but it helps to know because now—at this late stage in my life—I’ve been exposed to the wonderful world of ear buds. Good ear buds. They’re not new to me, but the ones I tried costing less than $300, never seemed to work good. (Well?) Same with headphones.

So I went back to listening as if in college: naked and close to the speaker with volume on 11. And I meant a “naked” ear, juveniles.

In 1970-something, Jackson Browne “dropped” an album we now refer to as “Saturate Before Using”, even though…long story for later. Let’s go with that title. Google it if you’re curious. The record had some good songs but nothing that made the record worth buying after hearing AM radio, and juke boxes. My disinterest did not stop Jackson and he continued to make records and two years later “For Everyman” hooked me. It got worn it out over the next 5 years or so.

 Then, I lost track of music, hearing it in the background, but not asking it to come forward and be the focal point of life. It was just there. Important note: there was all kinds of good music coming from good musicians (Eagles? Fleetwood Mac?) in the years between the late 1970s and when music reintroduced itself decades late, at my retirement. Not working gave me free time.

Let me end this because you’re drifting away…in 2023, while being treated for cancer, I accidentally purchased a pair of ear buds for $19, They were so fantastic they changed everything about music and life. No hyperbole.

Then, the ear buds got ahold of Jackson’s “Saturate Before Using”. The intricacy and flourishes, and backing sounds, and bass lines, the drums, and the shear musical craftsmanship coming from those ear buds brings me back to The Chair EVERY DAY, for at least an hour of music. And each time, there is something new and wonderful in songs I’ve listened to for many years but never really heard. Thank you, Ear Buds, and the company which finally decided to sell them at a decent price. (Not naming the company, but they know who they are. Call me?)

          Besides Jackson’s songs, find “Melissa” by Greg Allman with Jackson Brown. “Harvest Moon” by both Neil Young, (who wrote it) and a cover by The Brothers Comatose. And “River of Dreams” by Billy Joel. Find these songs, sit in your favorite chair, plug in your GOOD ear buds, and “Drift Away”…and find your own music.

Trump? Maduro? Putin? Conspiracy?

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A recent news article has prompted and entire shift in my view of the Trump world. And it is not a good view.

Trump sent a personal envoy to Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, a man hanging on to power by force, simply saying he did not lose in the last Venezuelan election. Besides the obvious similarities to January 6, 2021, Maduro adds to the Big Lie by actually controlling the mechanism of the elections in Venezuela. Maduro can prove he “won”, unlike 2020 Trump.

Maduro released 6 American hostages after “several hours” talking with Richard Grennell. (Google him for some interesting reading.) Why did Maduro release the hostages? What was he offered in return? Trump says he is cracking down on Venezuelan immigrants but–revealing a tell–Trump does not insult Maduro or have a pet nickname for him. What is going on? And how is returning American hostages a benefit to Venezuelan illegal immigration policy?

Trump in one month has taken over the government. He has directed any one who investigated him, in any department, to be fired. Musk has been busy, too, taking over the payroll operations of the entire government. Musk may now control the paying of all his own government contracts. And a billionaire supporter of RFK/Trump has warned Republican Politicians to toe the Trump line, or she will personally bankroll primary action against Republicans.

In 2020 Trump denied the election results, but there was too much proof he was not only wrong, but purposefully wrong. He lied, and he lied profusely and publicly even when the courts of the United States rebuffed his claims over 60 times. How was this man allowed to become president, again? The answer adds fuel to the conspiracy fire.

So. Trump sends Grennell to Venezuela to learn how Maduro kept control through force? Trump’s man praises and flatters Maduro, offers Maduro “something”, the hostages get released? Remember when Trump blamed “Venezuelan Communists” for his 2020 loss? More fuel. If you can’t beat them, join them.

Trump is taking over the entire government and will never relinquish it. It is not even a secret, anymore, since so many people blindly support Trump. In 2028 there will be no need to vote as Trump and his election denier cronies, with Elon Musk and the billionaires’ help, will have control of the entire election process and systems. Lessons learned from Maduro? Trump will not need the Constitutional Amendment proposed by the Honorable Representative from Tennessee.

Trump does have to hurry so he can get control in time for the 2026 midterms. A blue wave would be a disaster for his plans and midterm election corrections are the norm.

In the meantime we will all have to do what Trump wants…no matter what it is. It won’t be lower egg prices. Thanks, voters. A Great America is almost here. Wonder if we’ll still call it America.

Maybe the “whiny” Democrats are right…

Education, shmeducation…

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As a farmer’s child of the 1960’s, I was acutely aware of the mess adults made of the world. The cities were burning from race riots, friends were being killed in Viet Nam, and politicians were letting the Earth die. My news sources on the farm were late night AM radio, music, books, and Walter Cronkite. Life was a steady stream of reading, listening, and eventually protesting, when Dad and the chickens allowed it. Damn chickens.

The protesting life came to a head on Mayday 1971 when I stumbled into a high level, east coast organizational meeting of antiwar groups in the dining hall at Colgate University. Sadly, my life of organized protest ended when I showed up too late the next day for the storming of the Administration Hall. All my friends got arrested and I got to watch them get carted away. The close proximity to a possible felony–and a baton to the head– scared me straight and I took my disillusion on the road to pursue education in a non-traditional way.

Somewhere in the mid 1970’s, I was married, with two kids, and starting a great job with the state of New York. I began to feel positive about life in the United States and was slowly growing more confident about the future. Why? The Education. My track through the hallowed halls exposed me to others like me, who thought about things, and paid attention. We met in college dorms, YMCA gyms, beer gardens, and even strip clubs. Everyone seemed aware, thoughtful, and critical but with a positive vibe. It was as if everyone was determined to make a better life for themselves, and then for the world. Many did not have the college degree, but had the college/university exposure and could put coherent sentences together. At that level of involvement, with minds like that, the world was in great hands.

It appears the schools I attended, at every level, provided a way for me (and the people I met), to learn to see and think critically. To be active listeners as well as talkers. We were Compassionate Skeptics. My Generation was going to save the world one life at a time. And trees, too. I truly believed it.

It is an old man’s favorite lament: things aren’t like the old days. I don’t know how our country got from Compassionate Skeptics to Election Deniers. Or Flat Earthers. Or Fake Moon Landers. Maybe I was mistaken all those years ago. Delusional. But, um, like, I’m pretty sure, like, that I wasn’t, you know?

At my orientation meeting with 20 incoming freshmen in 1970 the University asked us what we came to College to accomplish. Many had a good idea of where the university could help them, but several of us said “We came here to be educated, to learn how to think, and to find out what we might want to be.” Education was for education’s sake. To learn. To grow. To be able to see.

To this day, I am skeptical of a young person, 17 or 18 years old who knows what he or she wants to be FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIFE. To be fair, I envy the early drive of doctors, and health care professionals, and Taylor Swift, but most of the students in 1970 who professed a certain career path were doing something else in 1976. At least they got a good enough Liberal Arts education to be able to determine what was best for them. Not so, these days. Liberal Arts education is as forbidden as DEI.

How can we teach kids to think? Don’t know, but maybe after 50 years of screwing it up, we can at least start trying to get it right. An educated populace will find it’s way and Make American Great Again, like it was in 1976.

And if we don’t, what do I care?

Interesting Things I’ve heard, lately

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There are so many sporting events these days, there is a dearth of announcing talent. In a recent game I heard an announcer say this with all the confidence of a man who knows everything: “You can bet (this player) won’t miss this foul shot. He’s a great free throw shooter. Made 52 percent of his shots so far this year.” For non-sports people 52% is NOT a good number and the shooter did miss the shot. In the same game: “You have to be impressed by their fight the first ten minutes of this second half. They’ve clawed their way back to within 8 points after being down by 8 at the end of the first half.” Most modern announcers not only speak to fill time, but also work hard to make you see how smart they are. Like this former football coach turned announcer: “If it were me, I’d never pass the (football) again. The (other team) is ready for it.” The “other team” wasn’t, probably thinking the same as the old coach? The first team passed and scored a long touchdown.

Its okay, but no one ever acknowledges being wrong. Or gets fired. Or turns down the check. Modern American values, these days.

Speaking of American Values, for some really interesting answers ask any MAGA/Trump supporter when was the last time America Was Great. If they answer, that is. Most babble and bash Biden. Or Obama.

Here’s an easy one. I’m looking at my wall of windows and all I see is white. I look at my weather app and see sunshine. No snow in the next ten days. Yes, I did double check to make sure the app was set to the right location. By the way, if I hadn’t and learned I hadn’t, an apology would be here, trust me. Truthfully, I would have just deleted this paragraph. No need for you to know how stupid I might be, is there?

Back to politics, and apologies for picking on Republicans, but they are the most egregious when it comes to memory loss, forcing them to give interesting answers. Dems do it too, but…so many Republicans have learned to not say a bad word about Trump they have lost all recollection of the January 6, 2021 riots…especially the ones who were actually there. When asked about The Pardons, the usual response has been: “I don’t know anything about that. But Biden was wrong.”

A recent politician brought up a Republican named Trey Gowdy. If you don’t remember him, he was mainly responsible for the $8 million spent on 52 congressional hearings into The Benghazi/Hilary Clinton fiasco. Mr. Gowdy was the usual lead attack dog during the hearings and now works for Fox, criticizing Democrats for wasting time and money on things like impeachment. He said this sometime in the past, probably during a Democratic President’s term: “Process matters. We are not a country where the ends justifies the means.” The Modern Republican Party thinks otherwise. J6 is the perfect, interesting example. Hope this subject appears on Fox News, soon.

Aw, I spent so much time researching Mr. Gowdy I’ve lost my interest in writing. The real lesson learned from Mr. Gowdy and others like him is “The Squeaky Wheel Gets Greased”. MSNBC and Fox, and others are now populated with “talky” politicians who never really did much but talk.

So be it, football is on. Hope I get good announcers….

Some Funny things from 2025. Too soon?

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Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Cool, but why is he ignoring the state of New Mexico?

He also wants to rename Mt. Denali, and–you have to think– any other name he doesn’t like. Real important stuff is it, for you Trump supporters?

Jordan Klepper of The Daily Show accidentally cost Trump one supporter. Klepper was asking MAGA patriots if they believed in the pardons and they all said yes. One MAGA man said “They didn’t do anything wrong.” Klepper showed the man photos from J6 day. Guess what? The man had never seen them, and didn’t know there had been that kind of activity. Where did he get his news from? “Conservative sources”, the man said. That’s not funny.

Now is a good time to point out all the Modern Republican Party Grievance Machine’s (MRPGM) pious complaints about “bias” in the liberal media being hypocritical. Fox News–and others–were set up to specifically to give the news a conservative bias. And then they used their tag line: “Fair and Balanced” If you read this and have any brain, you see the only way Fox News consumers would get “Fair and Balanced” news is if they watched both Fox News and then the liberal biased Lame Street news organizations. Watching Fox alone is watching a “biased” News Organizations. Any conservatives, besides the man Klepper interviewed, ready to admit their bias? No? Ha, see, that’s funny. PS same goes for liberals, too. Not so funny, now, is it, Karen? You must watch at least one hour of Fox for “balance”.

Trump has a chance in this second term to do remarkable things. To even become the Greatest President Ever. Seriously. But he has reverted to the lapse of logic which failed him the first time and led to Joe Biden setting a record for Presidential votes in 2020. Trump doesn’t know math. In 2016 Trump ballyhooed his skinny Electoral College win into a “Mandate”, even though he lost the popular vote by over 3 million votes. “Mandate” in Trump World means “do what I want. It’s what the American people want.” Kellyanne was so good about reminding us all of “The Mandate.” Only in MAGA world do you get a mandate from a minority.

In 2024, now, Trump won only 49.7% of the votes cast. Nearly 70 million votes were cast for his opponent, and nearly 90 million “Voter Eligible Voters” never even voted. Mandate? Only if you don’t understand math. Or need to make yourself feel better. A mandate is determined by the voters, but not just who voted for the president, unless someone needs to justify some actions that the 170 million who did NOT vote for him might not like. In MAGA world who cares about the losers? We’ll see. Might be hilarious 2026 midterms.

In all presidential elections there have always been large groups of “Voter Eligible Voters” who do not participate. Some do register and do not vote, while some never even register. Why? My guess is a lot of voters who do vote are not casting votes FOR one candidate, but voting AGAINST another, but others just don’t want to waste their time. Funny, right?

The two party system is too blame and it might be time for a more “Parliamentary” type of election. Modern America has no place, anymore, for decent human beings who want to do what’s best for the country. The style of the day is do what you’re told. It’s why the Majority and Minority Leaders in the House and Senate, have helpers called “Whips.” That is really funny if you think about it.

There is no place for Independents. Imagine, if you will, that Biden or Trump or Obama or Bush wins the Presidency with 30% of the vote, forcing the new President to accept another party(s) in to the new government.

Might be funny. We’ll never know.

Is it really the end of the world?

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A lot of left leaning friends are distraught, to say the least, about January 20, 2025. Most of them were distraught about January 6, 2021, as well.

Distraught: adjective, deeply upset and agitated.

Distraught is probably the best word to use when a convicted felon becomes president and pardons other convicted felons simply because those “other felons” adore the new president. A whole bunch of MAGAs are getting out of their seats to protest: “What about Biden?” They prove a point about themselves: they can never argue or debate without using the “Whataboutsomeoneelse” defense. Maybe I’ll take the time to illustrate the differences, later, or maybe I’ll just sit in my chair and not waste time.

And so starts another four years of you-know-who. Somewhere in America is a subset of voters wondering if there are any good, decent men and women left in America. One thing not needing debate is that every four years we are going to have half the country feeling “distraught” in January. Except billionaires. They’re happy all the time.

Meantime, science leaps and bounds its way into the future. Northwestern University in Chicago has reported the first “demonstration of quantum teleportation over internet cables”. Look back at my post about Quantum Entanglement this past summer and you’ll see why my brain blew up with this news, and think it far more important than our new, orange disaster.

Mercedes Benz has developed fully operational hydrogen powered engine to replace diesel engines in trucks. Ever been behind a diesel truck chugging up a hill? The WaVe, funded by the German Government, has out-ftted a formerly diesel powered “implement carrier” with the new engine. All that comes out of the tail pipe is water. Finally, something we can all “get behind”. (NO. I swear it’s not pun…on purpose.)

A paralyzed man has flown a virtual drone using brain implants. Another paralyzed man used implants to send texts. Another is learning how to use brain implants to control a “robot exe-skeleton”, and take steps. If you know–and empathize for–a paralyzed person, there is hope. Sidebar: Chinese scientists have “scheduled” the first Robot Marathon (yes, a MARATHON for ROBOTS) for sometime in April, 2025. In China. Along the route will they want water bottle stations? Oil?

Canadian scientists have learned to “disguise” cancer tumors to “look similar to pig organs” and trick our immune systems into attacking the cancer cells. Canada is not our 51st state, yet, but they get kudos for finally–and hopefully– finding the answer to the “immune system attacking cancer tumor” concept that’s been around for some time. No harsh chemo or radiation…hopefully.

There’s more, but the point is the world will keep moving forward no matter what the color of the American President: Black, White, or Orange. And look at the opportunity for more billionaires. We might see a “trillionaire” soon, too. Huzzah!

As long as we stay out of the way of science.

Oh, and logic.

Can’t resist adding–might add one every post– a Steven Wright quote: “If you were going to shoot a mime, would you use as a silencer?”

Logic.

Some bad things?

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It is a curse to be self-aware, especially if you don’t know it.

The title refers to things about myself that I don’t notice. They get put in a pile, get forgotten (really: ignored) and then sooner or later, they get addressed. It is later, now.

I don’t really mind other drivers: it’s the yelling at life, I like. You “no-signalling turners” and “stop-at-yield-sign” drivers are not as irritating as you might think. They simply “release the hounds” of profanity. Since it happens in an empty car, with the windows rolled up, there is deniability built in if the other driver chases me down and has a Glock.

Things fall all around me for no reason, making me pick them up. I curse them with the common lament of the persecuted: “Why me?” It does help when other people my age say they feel the same. It doesn’t end the feeling of persecution, though, and I might rather enjoy that, too. (See above paragraph.)

When things are going good for me, I make the mistake of saying out loud a phrase that acts as a trigger and ruins the mood. Can anyone guess what the phrase is? It is the universal wail of the optimist who is skeptical: “Something bad’s gonna happen, soon.”

My life (which is probably at least similar to yours) is comprised of different moods, and I feel like wearing an apology sign for all those who get in my way when I’m in my Bad Mood (BM…please don’t confuse it with doody.) In a BM a slow clerk is the End of the World, and society is coming apart. In a BM the slightest grammatical error, the slightest slight from a public servant, the lack of efficiency of a waitress makes me start planning an underground bunker with lots of frozen pizzas.

But in a Good Mood (GM, no not the car company), those events listed, above, make me smile, and wonder what the future holds for the guilty person. At the grocery store this morning, I used a real person for checkout since there was only one man in front of me with a small order. But when it came time to pay, that’s when he took out his voluminous wallet and started counting out bills, and then change. Oddly, I felt the line growing behind me more than I felt the usual annoyance of being slowed down, AND I felt sorry for the old gentleman. What is happening to me????

Here’s another Bad Thing. I feel so good this morning I wrote a nasty, “let’s end things” text to the woman who screwed me over this past summer. As a good, decent man I had been trying to save a 21 year relationship but suddenly decided to believe–and act on–what my friends liked to say about her: “She is a cruel, selfish bitch.” Oddly, sending the “close the door on all possibility” text made me feel better.

I do not look my age. Two doctors this week, alone, who had not read my file yet, accused me of being “Mid-50 years old”. One last month thought my 50-year-old daughter was my wife. You probably can’t see the problem, so I’ll explain: I look too young for woman my age, but am factually too old for women the age I look like. If you’re married or in a committed relationship you won’t understand. But try and imagine being a 72-year male back on the market, back on the prowl. I tried a dating site for a few days but stopped because it took too long to prove the profile picture was recent. One “lady” (the quotation marks will be explained in the next sentence) asked for a pic of my birth certificate. With hindsight, she was probably a Nigerian Romance Scammer. Maybe I should have just lied and looked for younger women. Imagine, too, a 72 year-old woman being “accosted” by a 55 year old man asking for a date. (No, I have not encountered any Cougars in Upstate NY, they all moved to Florida.)

It’s too bad a GM can’t just be enjoyed. And a BM ignored. But it is much better to be alive and aware, than lost in The Calamities and eternal doom. A close, younger friend just learned he needs a pacemaker. The news saddened me at first, but then the news sidled up next to what the worst could be and life got back to balance for him, and for me as an accessory to the fact.

With all the bad that can happen, balance is heaven.