China

Fathers Day, with no apostrophe or apology

ness23456 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Aging is interesting. Not to the young, of course, but there is a point in everyone’s life when we “suddenly” realize we are aging, if not “aged”. It is what happens after the realization we will talk about, here.

Fathers Day 2026 was an interestingly humorous celebration.

I probably learned about Fathers Day way back in The Early Years. Fathers Day was first proposed in 1909 in response to Mother’s Day.* Fathers Day was officially “recognized” in 1966 by Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon made it a National Holiday in 1972. I was unaware of these dates because in 1963 I was learning how to shelter under a wooden desk if nuclear missiles were headed to upstate New York.** In 1972, I was either drunk, blazed, or courting the second or third “love of my life”. Honoring dad was the last thing on my mind. It didn’t help the holiday that my father and I had a unique relationship during my 1960’s teen years, and I wouldn’t have honored him, anyway.

It’s safe to use “aging” as an excuse for not remembering the first time Father’s Day caused my day to be about someone other than me.

But here’s the thing: the concept of unimportance has floated through my conscience many times over the last few months. It started with the China documentary where the repeated cycles of Dynasties rising and falling over hundreds of years led to millions of people—perhaps billions—dying simply because they were of the wrong family, cult, religion, or geographic area. What was important to those people? Did they have scrapbooks of family photos to pass down to survivors? Were their deaths heroic? Were there any survivors? Did they have special days for Fathers and Mothers?

And then there is politics…the rise of one party, the decline of another, and the passing of time making us forget all about The Whigs of the 1830s-1950s. And remember when Republicans were Democrats and Democrats were Republicans? And who can forget The Teapot Dome Scandal and Tammany Hall shenanigans, corruption at its finest. You remember, right?

Of course, you don’t. It doesn’t matter, now. Any of it. So what does matter?

National Geographic put out a wonderful chart detailing the rise and fall of “civilizations” through the ages. The Romans. The Incas. The Mayans, The Greeks. What do they all have in common? They’re gone, and we dig in the earth to find about as much as we can about them so we can…make the same mistakes?

It isn’t the rest of the World that forgets the lessons of the past, it is us, individually. We don’t pay attention. Even worse, we have the hubris to think we are smarter than The Romans. Even smarter than the Greeks.*** And we work harder than the Mayans. And we know better what to do with the Land than The Mohicans.****

It was Fathers Day last Sunday and the current local family met for burgers, beers, hot dogs, potato salad, and farting around the table. Of note, there were two whole barbecued chickens none of us had room for, even after passed gas made more space.

But as I sat there, watching kids, grand-kids, and talking about a great-grand-kid 1,100 miles away, the idea of how temporary life is swung into view with a thud. I’ve personally known over 50 Fathers Days, thanks to a young marriage and fatherhood. Is there any difference from the first to the last? And how many will the young people around the table experience?

I’m not sure where this essay is heading, but the Fathers Day tableau gave me something besides a sore butt from an uncushioned wooden chair: my time on this earth has been okay and would be okay, no matter what happens in the next few years. I am headed for an activity billions of people have already done, and everyone at the table would eventually do the same.

“It isn’t the destination, it’s the journey.” Please google this phrase. Ask Ai about it. They have more resources, space, and ability to explain it. For even more fun try it this way: “It isn’t the journey, it’s the destination.” And don’t believe everything you read.

*With an apostrophe. Google it. Or Ai, it.

**Don’t laugh. The air base sending B-52s to Russia was 5 miles down the road.

***We must be smarter because so many of the Greeks were homosexual and bi-sexual. How long can a civilization last with activity like that? 4,500 years?

****Google them. I dare you.

What Difference Does It Make?

ness23456 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Forget the “it” in the title. We already rode that dead horse. And forget the “that” in that sentence. Why are pronouns and miscellaneous “determiners” so necessary and confusing? Ask Ai about them both so we can move on to another subject.

Memory, and its (again?) attendant issues, are on the mind, today.

It is easy to think of things to essay about. (Yes, essay can be used as a verb. Ask your own Emma.) Life itself can be written about ad nauseum, and an inquisitive mind and active fingers can even exhaustively explicate dust particles.

(Short break for Emma’s Ai dissertation on Dust.)

The problem is most Great Ideas come at inconvenient times. No, not the bathroom, but when zooming up Route 365 To Turning Stone at highway speeds whose numerical value is determined by a possible law enforcement presence. Or trying to get to sleep. Imagine being tired and a “great idea for an essay or story” pops into your head. Do you get up? Do you wait for the next pee break? Do you stay completely still and hope sleep comes immediately?

I used to get up but after a “certain age” getting back to sleep became a bigger problem than forgetting a Great Idea, especially with the Urination Schedule of The Senior Male already causing sleep interruptions. Great Ideas are a dime a dozen, or $2.25 per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for April 2026. No. I will not research a true local and current price. It might not be good news. And it’s best to lay (lie?) still and wait.

Where were we? Great Ideas and how to manage them. Many times I’ve solved the world’s problems while watching for early morning, road-crossing deer during the flight up Route 365 at excessive and probably unsafe speeds. There is no way to let go the wheel and take notes or drive one-handed while glancing back and forth from phone to windshield. Understandably for a senior, by the time I land in the parking garage 5 minutes later, The Great Idea is gone, lost in the swirling mists of history much like my ancient football career, the facts–if not lost–not to be relied upon if recovered.** Yes, I often channel Al Bundy.

If I’d had typed the **footnote here, I’d be done by now, with my eventual point only partly constructed:  if you want to remember something you have to…um…

Okay. We’ll head in another direction and act like the preceding never happened.

There is a lot to regret, miss, and moan about as things in our lives change and flex and swivel and slide down the backside of life.

But there are also interesting, beautiful, amazing, startling, and informative things, too, if we can remember to spend less time moaning about getting older.***

When watching documentaries (like the 8 hour one on China) you have to wonder if the people living in The Ming Dynasty had any time to enjoy life before millions of them died hundreds of years ago. Did they have any Great Ideas? If you know about ancient warfare, how did the losers of wars deal with the loss and the subsequent torture and “elimination” of themselves and their neighbors?

 History is full of Great Ideas.

Like, why were we given the necessary tools to ask and try to understand them?

Wouldn’t it be better to be that front monkey getting groomed?****

*Where does all the dust come from? What is it made of? Who named it dust? Is a living thing or inanimate detritus? OMG, do NOT google or Ai this word…unless you have time…

**Except for the scholarship to a great university that lead to the best year of my life in 1970-1971. Hey, that’s a Great Idea for next time!

***It is so interesting to hear a 50-year-old complain about aging. Or a 40-year-old. It makes a 74-year-old feel so fecking smart. They should pass a law about when it’s okay to complain about age. ANY age. And who is They?

****An it and a that in one sentence. We’ve come a long way from grunts and farts.

What in the World Is Going On?

ness23456 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That should read “What is Going On in the World?” You have any idea?

Money and wealth are distorting the natural order of things all over this wonderful globe. You learned about Dynamic Model Pricing a few weeks ago and how money changes fair trade. An article on the web showed how many is entering politics in ever increasing levels, since the Supreme Court decreed “Corporations are People, too” and can contribute like you or me. That was 2013, and the infamous Citizens United Ruling. So you contribute $100 to your favorite candidate. XYZ Corporation contributes $1 million. Who does your candidate favor? Google how campaigns were financed before 2013. It was complicated but fair for all. Now, money pays and money plays.* Say it isn’t so.

But the real mess is geo-political. Donald Trump has shaken up the world and this is going to be the result: Three Super Nations will rule the world in 20 years. Russia will take over Europe and most of the Middle East, China will get all the Asian nations, including Taiwan, and to Make America Great Again, we get the entire western Hemisphere. Australia, New Zealand and Africa are up for grabs, probably the last places where opposing armed forces will fight. Proof? Who wants Greenland, is talking about other Latin American conquests, and is cultivating a friendship with Argentina? Trump. Us. Who is cutting off aid, and probably support, to Europe? Us. Who has already entered a European neighbor to take over territory? Putin. Who is instigating and threatening military action in the Pacific, including building entire new islands to block traditional shipping lanes? China and Xi.

Trump is often accused of being friendly to Putin and recently backed off Chinese export tariffs.Is there a deal among the world’s three major powers? Is the world about to be partitioned into negotiated sections for each? Will that be a bad thing?

Xi and Putin are already autocratic rulers, so what do they need? Xi and Putin need an autocratic ruler in the United States. Who would even think of anything this huuuge(sic) but Trump, The Deal Maker?** With hindsight and some insight, you can see the trail of this conspiracy beginning before the 2016 election of Trump. He made many trips to Moscow trying to get a hotel built, but it was denied…for the moment. Then, there are the rumors of Russian support for not only the election of Trump but financing for his wife’s documentary/movie. Did Russia put up the money? And Trump repeatedly inserts himself into business deals with China, as if he is the only one who can negotiate with Xi. And don’t forget Trump’s best buddy, South Korea’s dictator and Xi puppet.

If Trump can pull off getting himself the same power as Putin and Xi, the Three Super Nations can form and rule forever. Note the imposition of Martial Law would be a first step towards that power, especially if “civil unrest” reaches a certain, justifiable level. (Wink Wink: Minnesota.)

Smaller countries, races, and ethnicity may or may not be destroyed. Putin, Xi, and Trump will hold so much power, there won’t be much that can harm them, so they may let us keep our native languages, religions, and customs. And SPORTS!

This is science fiction and I’ve no idea if anything in this post is true. Isn’t that the best part? But when you smell crap, there usually is crap. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. If it walks like a duck…it walks funny.

If you don’t hear from for a few weeks…there is a safety deposit box number…shouldn’t have mentioned that…

PS To anyone listening, I promise to never write about this, again. Ever. Promise. Pinky swear. The Secret is Safe.

 *It was probably the same pre-2013 but it was illegal.

**It might also be why he worked so hard to keep power in 2021. He let his buddies down.

Tariffs? We Don’t Need No Stinking Tariffs Do We?

ness23456 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

 The Trump Administration recently announced they have collected hundreds of billions of dollars in “tariff fees”. The specific number is close to $300 billion and climbing. Wow. Look at all that revenue. For America. We’ll pay down the $38 trillion National Debt in approximately 120 years. Yay. Imagine a lazy, waving, small American Flag. But wait, maybe the Trump Administration will send $2000 checks to every American. Yay? Why would he do that? And why hasn’t he?

Tariffs—and their effects—are hard to understand. Most people tell me tariffs are a “tax” on foreign countries and assume foreign countries are paying that tax. It is closer to the truth, however, to say no “countries” ever pay any Tariff Tax. For example, the United States of America, doesn’t pay other countries for their “unfair” tariffs, even as other countries are “ripping us off”, per Mr. Trump.

Wait. China is not paying massive tariffs for all the goods they import? No. They are not. How about Mexico and Canada? No. They are not. And America is not paying tariffs to other countries?* No. So what is going on? Who IS paying?

Again, it’s complicated but here is a simple example: A pair of Chinese sneakers retails at Walmart in the US for $10 in 2024 with the cost being $5 per pair under the 2024 Tariff Plan. China is then “punished” with a new Tariff Plan of 50% the fall of 2025. That Chinese sneaker pair will be charged an additional 50% tariff when it lands on American soil, making the cost of the sneakers in 2025 $7.50. Think a retailer like Walmart will sell the sneaker in 2025 at the same price as the 2024 sneaker? The tariff is really a “tax” meant to make the Chinese sneaker as expensive as an American made sneaker. Does it work? It will if some American Sneaker Manufacturer can sell his sneakers for under $15. The purpose is to support American Manufacturing and give them an economic reason to make sneakers by raising the Chinese Imports price. If you watch any sports events you probably think there are no sneaker-makers in the US, but there are. Why aren’t they being used by professional and amateur sports teams, now? See, complicated.

But the best or worst part of the whole process is who is actually paying, shelling out the dough, for the tariff “tax”? In our example, it ain’t China and it ain’t the US. In this example, it is Walmart. And probably you when you buy the sneaker at the new 2025 price. What will that price be?

Let’s circle back to the billions in tariff revenue touted by Trump. Where did the actual money come from? China? No, it is American money from American retailers, wholesalers, and importers. It’s a neat way to “tax” without calling it a tax. (Can you say One Big Beautiful Bill Tax Cuts?) And….drum roll…Walmart’s initial payments go to the Treasury and Trump can (almost) do whatever he wants with the dollars, without congressional approval. More ICE Agents? A Ballroom? Tax rebates to Americans? What great ideas.

But nothing has happened, yet, not even hyper-inflation. Why?  Read below from The Peterson Institute for International Economics, by Gary Clyde Hufbauer (PIIE) and Ye Zhang(China)September 16, 2025:  “If the Supreme Court affirms the lower courts’ decisions, the federal government could have to refund much of the tariff revenue collected this year. But if the Supreme Court reverses the lower courts and affirms IEEPA tariffs, US firms may start passing the added costs to households. While the tariffs have so far had a modest effect on inflation, eventually consumers could see higher prices.”

The Supreme Court will decide in November 2025 if the Tariffs are even legal. We might have to refund all money to the payers. So Walmart is waiting to see if it gets its money back. Even badder(sic),  imagine if Trump sent out “rebate” checks to Americans he then had to ask them to return. Walmart pricing may rise drastically after the November Supreme Court ruling. Or we all get $2000 checks for Christmas. In the meantime, uncertainty and chaos, the operational mode of our current government.

I am not an economist or politician and researched this post at my own expense (Yes, humor.) If anyone knows the Tariff situation is any different than described in this post, please comment and correct. All I really know for sure is most people think foreign governments are making tariff payments to us, America. Wonder why they think that?

*Subsidies, and other financial “arrangements” (Kickbacks?) can complicate the situation even further, and make it impossible to follow the money.