news

The MTV Crisis

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

Your’s truly has been struggling for years to explain the meaning and ramifications of both misinformation and disinformation (MisandDis). It didn’t help that the examples and cases cited revolved around world events and politics. We all know trying to talk about those subjects ends in a stubborn, sad stalemate with each side the victor and each side the loser.

But life dropped the perfect subject for explaining not only how MisandDis happens, but how fast they happen and how hard it is slow or correct. Is the subject The Venezuela Invasion? The Congo strife? Greenland? Eurovision 2026 Dropouts? Sidebar: Thanks to an Austrian win in 2025 the 2026 competition will be held in a weiner. Google it.

All good guesses for most of us, and Eurovision was close, but a subject easier for most of the world to finally focus their concern? MTV. On December 22, 2025, MTV—wait, you all know what MTV is, right? I forgot my audience. If you don’t know, look it up and even if you’re old, where the hell have you been these last 44 years? Save me space and google it.

MTV put out a press release with the Headline “MTV Going Off The Air” The release stated all the facts in the article explaining that headline but forgot modern readers are not reading articles but headlines and clickbait. You, the reader, for example, did your news “aggregator” or collector, or speed service source app inform you MTV was going “off the Air”?

And do you think MTV is no longer being broadcast or streamed? You should think that, because millions of podcasters, new apps, and news sources picked up the headline and ruined most of the world’s day with news of the beloved (??) MTV falling by the wayside. The internet erupted with “Save MTV” lunacy, as if not having MTV was like, like NOT having MTV and The Jersey Shore People and Real Life people, and…can’t help you with it anymore because MTV was sent off my personal airwaves when they stopped showing music videos with naked women. But others are really, really, really were going to miss MTV so much…so, so, much.

MTV is not going off the air. I checked YouTubeTV and RuPaul is strutting his stuff on MTV right next to me as I type. (No, it’s not distracting, it’s research.) So what happened? No body did any research. The new normal for information and news delivery, per the request of everyone but me, it seems, is to listen to podcasts and stories shared on sites like X, (Official name: “Xformerly known as twitter”), Instagram, and all the other crappy nu-researched, unedited, and unregulated places lazy people get news, now. Why the feck did I get a degree in journalism? The original press release from MTV talked about ancillary MTV services like Music, and other related MTV sites I could care less about, but THE MTV was still going to “make content”. The innocent but incomplete headline of the press release was seized, copied, pasted, and talked about all over the world in hours. And the angst began. I’m wondering if the second part of MYV’s marketing plan*, the explanation for why the entire world mistakenly thinks MTV is gone, will go around the world as fast as the first stage.

            Facebook. LinkedIn. MySpace. All of the social web sites young and old people enjoy visiting are NOT news organizations. They are mouthpieces** and post “news” for “click bait”, or “rage bait”, not information and education. I appeal to all readers to move back to legacy media of ANY bias to get news and facts about events of the world. Legacy media may—will–slant the news but they won’t make it up and won’t disseminate MisandDis. They get sued for that shite. Podcasters get a bonus. Do you know where your news sources are tonight?

“Google it” is not an information source, it is a research tool. If you google “shite”, for example, you will get thousands of responses. How to know which is right? First, isn’t not knowing anything about “shite” why you googled it to begin with? Hm. Now you might have to start thinking. Sucks, huh.

            *Genius, utter genius. They’ve got an old fart like me talking about them. And you reading. When was the last time you paid ANY attention to MTV?

            **Emphasis on “mouth”.

The End of Civilization…Maybe? A Minor Rant

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

It’s hard to know who to blame, but modern Western Civilization is coming to an end. If there are textbooks in the future, the demise of Democracy and the 21st century world will be written by whoever survives. Historical museums and archives of apolitical thought will all have gone the way of the Edsal, and history will be whatever the New Order says it is. Research will result in facts dominated by the Group-thought of the Cults who survive and pour out of their bunkers after the mild-mannered Armageddon.

A paragraph like the one above usually starts a science fiction novel which begins with a sudden, apocalyptic fireball, world-wide pandemic, or alien invasion. But our current president and his minions are reshaping American Life without germs, radiation, or pointy-headed anal probers. And some of America supports them.

The dismantling of a federal Government that has historically held people together, kept them safe from external forces, won world-wide wars, and met nature’s tests, means…nothing. Nothing will be left for workplace safety, protection from predatory billionaires, bird flu, brain-eating amoebas, and the rest of the small things trying to kill us. Pollution will become the dominant problem before climate change, and both will conflate to end mankind. The Trump Administration will crow to the rooftops about how great they made America right to the bitter end.

Eh. Maybe not. This might be what you would call Trump Derangement Syndrome so it’s best to avoid any Trumpian news stories, but The Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts issue is astounding, prescient, and indicative of The New Trump World mentality. Trump made his usual off the cuff rants about The Kennedy Center not being Trumpian and then fired all 17 members of the Board of Directors and made himself temporary chairman. He then made the Kennedy Center into what he wants it to be.  You can read detailed reports of how it all happened for at least a little while longer since Trump monitors have not been able to erase all bad news, yet. But the funny-not-funny part is Trump put a butt-kissing crony in charge. The new MAGA governing body now has control of The Kennedy Center and will make it “great” again, “for everyone”…in their own, political image.

Oddly, some people disagree with the New Director and the New Board, and plan protests.

Ha. Funny, right? Wait, you haven’t heard the funny part, yet. The new, very sensitive and self-aware director of the center had this to say: “Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliations, won’t be welcomed. In fact, we think it would be important to “out” those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they hire—and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience.” Is that irony or hypocrisy?

The Kenedy Center was named after John F Kennedy, a war hero, and former Democratic President. It was established in 1971 and “serves as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy, and hosts world-class performances, offers extensive educational opportunities, and is a unique public/private partnership.” -wikipedia.* And it has been for over 50 years without complaint or adverse action or lawsuit, or—screw it. It doesn’t matter. It catered to a world-class audience and Trump felt excluded. Something had to be done.

The astounding tone-deaf-ness of the new director’s statements is the problem, read it again. No one is right, correct, and morally sound but him. Now, with the old 17-member board and old director, and old programming gone, the New Board will get it Right. Literally.

For more, fun, Trump is even after Wikipedia and wants to put that impartial, publicly edited and monitored information source away.

We’ll have Trumpedia and The Trump Performance Center in our future.

Who’s vapid and intolerant?

And what a start for that End of World novella…

*The wiki entry has been edited since the date of this post.

Odd Things of Importance. Maybe.

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

Trump Burger, a Texas chain of hamburgers, closed in October 2025. The owner was arrested by ICE and is scheduled for deportation. Ironic news, but the more salient fact is Trump was suing the owner to stop using Trump’s name. Bet there is a real, juicy story waiting to get well-done before it’s made public. Yes, apologies for poor buns. Puns, puns.

On December 3, 2025, a lab downloaded my pathology report for last week’s follow-up colonoscopy. The previous May colonoscopy had found irregularities. In reporting on the samples sent by the doctors this time, the report said: “NO NEGATIVE DYSPLASIA”. This is a new phrase never heard during my days of prostate cancer or any other tests and treatments and appointments…so I googled it. For the first time in over 34 months, cancer is no longer part of my health conversations. I’m free of it. But it’s hard to celebrate. Both voices in my head (see past posts) say the same thing: “Yeah? Till when?” This is the perfect time to remember the nature of life and death, and hope one lasts long enough for the other to be a kinder, gentler event. And sudden, too, maybe.

A recent letter to our paper’s editorial section says Trump and Hegseth cannot be guilty of war crimes, because there is no “official war”.  For the anxious among you, I did suggest the writer send a note to Hegseth asking Hegseth to stop calling the bombing event something that happens in “the fog of war.” The local letter writer also suggests it’s okay to “kill criminals.” There was no distinction between being accused and being convicted. And the letter writer also added a “whataboutism” concerning the civilians accidentally killed during the Biden era. For those who think about these things, it was never mentioned what Biden Era military people said or did when they saw survivors. Our current leaders said “Kill them all” and sent a second bomb.

Two of these paragraphs are not about Trump, so my promise is kept. They are about the people Trump put in place to run his government and his affairs. He says he knows nothing of the things his appointees and lawyers do. He deserves the benefit of his(sic) doubt.

Today, in upstate New York, on December 4, 2025, one week after Thanksgiving and three weeks before Christmas, we are getting bombed by snow. Overnight temperatures will get to minus two degrees.* I do not like it. If any reader “knows someone” who can do something, let me know? Quid pro quo, by the way. You wash my hands, I wash your hands, capische?**

If anyone was wondering, public discourse has not improved. The Oxford Dictionary people have recently revealed a hint as to why. Oxford’s 2025 “Word of the Year” is “rage bait.” *** Google it for a detailed definition. It describes a conscious attempt to NOT engage in serious discussion, but to get a type of action or response often totally unrelated to the subject. How freaking depressing. After learning of the “word” it’s become hard to read or hear any public comments without wondering about the originator’s purpose. There is not enough time in my life to correct a mistaken person when all they really want is to get me to respond,  and they have no interest in the grammatical and logical jewel of a comment with which I bless them. Hopefully, not too much commentary will be wasted on sow’s ears, but I’ll never really know. And there are others in need of it. Oh, the humanity. Thanks, Oxford.

*Otherwise stated as -2brrr

** Stupid “The Untouchables” Movie. De Niro gets in your head.

***They give no public reason why it is two words, this year. Inflation?

Political Growth, a Personal Story

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

In the 1960’s I was a very young news consumer in a very small market when news sources were very limited. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK), ABC, NBC, and CBS convinced me to become a Democrat. There were three TV broadcast stations, AM radio, and newspapers, both daily and Sunday, delivering news of the town, county, state, country, and the world. And sports. All of us in my world heard the same news from the same places but often reached different conclusions. It was a perfect information world.

Books became a new source. The first mistake was Ian Fleming and “Bond, James Bond” books where an entirely new amazing world was revealed. Classics were read, too, like “Robinson Crusoe”, “Swiss Family Robinson”, and “Tom Sawyer” when the young brain wasn’t ready for Twain’s message. The world of print was an escape from farm life and a fantastic enhancement to the rote memory of 1960’s public schools. All of which did nothing to change my adolescent political belief.

Attending Earth Day Celebrations–including the very first national one in 1970–  and “No Nukes” rallies further cemented my Democratic Leanings. But subtle damage was done to the rabidness of those “leanings” by exposure to two books: “Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile”, by Ralph Nader, 1965, and more importantly “The Hidden Persuaders”, by Vance Packard, 1957.  They planted seeds of doubt, both of them, seeds fitting the rebellious nature of a young man looking at a world he did not understand.

But…with limited news sources, and a clearly defined two-party-only political landscape, it took several years for the seeds to grow. In fact, it took many years for the tree of Independence to grow higher than the bush of partisanship. It was at a Liberal Arts College, on the third floor of the girls dorm, when the evils of political purity began to be exposed. College students often argue just to argue. We called it “Debating”, and considered it an essential, unstructured part of a normally de rigueur education. It was during these ad hoc sessions the words of Twain, Nader, Packard, and others finally came into focus. This budding New Belief System (NBS) wasn’t earth shattering like The Moral Imperative of Kant, but it was more secular, more relevant, more down-to-earth, and a complement to philosophical mind bending. It became apparent a Capitalistic, Democratic Society needed both Naders and Kants to make sense. Great. Now what?

Life took its course with marriage, family, births, and deaths without the NBS fading but also without NBS making a big difference, except in my personal life. The faults of both political parties had been revealed by the NBS but so? Didn’t an intelligent person have to be a D or an R? It was simple inertia keeping me a responding member of the Democratic Party, and when Republican thoughts entered my mind, a feeling of disloyalty often followed. Ugh.

This long story needs quick completion, and a point, so here is my opinion, and mine only: No one should be a fanatical, devoted supporter of any political party. This morning’s on-line newspaper’s “letters to the editor” contained one praising a certain individual for voting consistently with the individual’s party. When I researched their voting record, it had evolved over time from nearly bipartisan to highly partisan, voting over 90 per cent of the time for the party line. My amygdala, part of the limbic system, lit up immediately and produced an audible: “That’s ass-backwards.”

I am now a devoted* Independent with Liberal Leanings**. It’s a result of the process engendered by the NBS: growing, learning, thinking, and applying. NBS was also nurtured by more information and more knowledge about politics. It is a rough and tumble business driven by money, fame, ego, and power. The Moral Imperative? Bah humbug. Public service? We measure it in dollars, now.

The reason for a two-party simple is clear: Money works with and against other money. Period. Imagine how hard it would be if there were three political hands*** dipping into the political pot.

With the advent of the internet and instant communication, there is no reason for anyone not to see the corrupted, misdealing, self-serving, nature of our two political parties, the system, and their candidates. So why support them? We have to support someone, yes?

No.

NO!

*Is it ironic, given my point?

**just means more liberal than conservative leanings, but I am ambidextrous (sic).

***Or more. It’s harder to “politically profiteer” in parliamentary governments.

 It’s The Rich, Stupid

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

Have you noticed the higher status of actors/citizens in all advertising, lately? Even the prostate cancer ads feature people who seem too well-off to be sick*. Car ads are for cars so expensive I can’t even afford the sales brochures. Medicare ads…why are those seniors always smiling, laughing, and well-dressed even in the pool? Is my economic inferiority complex simply an age thing? All my grand-kids have started jobs with salaries seldom seen in my entire working lifetime. Am I getting poorer or simply financially older? (Imagine a sad, sad face.)

It’s been mentioned, before, that income inequality is starting to skew financial-life planning for “normal people”. Here’s a (paraphrased) idea of what is happening:

Costco’s controversial new policy says something worrying about the economy

FAST COMPANY 11-4-2025  Jessica Stillman

New perks for some Costco members have received a decidedly mixed reaction from customers, employees, and analysts.” 

“It’s a decision that more and more leaders seem to be weighing. As management consultant Daniel Currell noted in a fascinating essay in The New York Times on the rise of pricey upgrades at Disney theme parks, companies are increasingly looking for ways to cater to–and extract more profit from—their most upmarket customers.” 

“Extract”? What a great word for what is happening. David Stockman and Ronald Reagans’ (and others) original “Trickle-Down” economic theory, where the benefits accrued by the rich will trickle down to the rest of us, appears to be working in the opposite direction, these days. The middle class of America has shrunk so much businesses are faced with the choice of marketing to the lower-class poor, or marketing to the upper-class rich. If you were running a business, which class would you want for customers? It is the logical result of a free-market capitalist society. Its effects, however, are anything but free. Those effects are easy to see in real estate where rich buyers purchase entire neighborhoods and gentrify it until no one but rich people can live there.

Now it’s seeping into all areas of life. If Costco can sell hamburger meat for $10 a pound because rich people will pay that much, what are poor hamburger buyers to do **? An upper-class customer base does not shop the same way a frugal middle-class or desperate lower-class shop. The upper-class rich don’t waste time with sales and coupons, often making purchases just to buy something, no matter the cost.

In the old days the free market focused on the savvy-shopping middle and lower classes simply because those people were the majority of purchasers. A simple chart would reveal why larger discretionary spending will beat lower, necessary spending anytime there is “competition” for markets.

Trickle Down is finally lifting all our boats, just not the way it was intended. The next few years will be interesting as there is no enforced government regulations or rules to limit the amassing of personal wealth.  Hopefully, all the new billionaires will let us have some crumbs. Forbes says “288 new billionaires entered the list in 2025.”  That gives America a total of over 900 billionaires. Ai says America had 13 billionaires in 1980. Imagine all that money…

*Don’t they get the best healthcare, with screenings and tests, whether they need them or not?

**Google “Model Pricing Strategy”.

Things you may not know in 2025…

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

Viet Nam was negotiating tariffs with Trump. One of their offers included a “fast-tracking” of a $1.5 billion Trump hotel in Viet Nam. Update: story disappeared so…Update Update: Trump was recently overheard advising an Asian head of state to “Call Eric.”

A bitcoin mogul was fined $4.5 billion, spent 4 months in jail for money laundering and “illegal activities’, agreed to not operate in the US, and accepted regular operational monitoring from US agencies. He is now offering his companies’ “global distribution services” to Trump Enterprises. All the mogul wants in return is to have US regulators stop monitoring his company, and a pardon.

An expensive new missile defense system is being advocated by Hegseth and the Defense Department. Elon Musk’s Starlink is the preferred vendor.

Trump has paved over the Rose Garden, is building a ballroom attached to the White House, and is now floating a design called the “Arc D’Trump.”

America is helping “bailout” Argentina’s government by trying to give them $40 Billion dollars. Don’t cry for me, Argentina. *

Charlie Kirk and Rudy Guiliani will soon join Rush Limbaugh as recent American Presidential Medal of Freedom Winners. Wonder which Rudy will show for the ceremony.

Trump is deploying troops to states and cities to fight crime. None of the states are in the top 5 crime states. Only one of the cities is in the top 5 crime rates.

The FBI is changing how crime rates will be collected and administered.

I am not getting any younger.

Neither is Trump.

Nearly every state in America is now redistricting or planning on redistricting. American politicians and leaders of both parties will now spend more time on claiming and retaining power than governing. Thank you, Citizens United and other “election reformers”.

Why do we call it “change” when it happens all the time? When has ANYTHING ever stayed the same? Oh, yeah, corruption and greed.

Trump wants the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope events prove him right and he gets it. What will he do, though, when the middle east returns to its “normal” dynamic of hating and fighting each other, and the United States?

Do not go boating with a power boat in the Caribbean, at least off the coast of Venezuela. There’s little doubt about the boats our military is blowing up, but there is doubt. Do we let our police operate the same way?

And in our modern world of fakes and disinformation, how much of this is…something? Hint: I am getting older.

*google it.

Trifles

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

After the post about Tariffs, the Trump Administration added “Port Fees” and plain, old taxes to an escalating trade war with China and other countries. China used Port Fees first  (I think) so our fees are retaliatory. According to Ai, the owners of the “shipping vessels” docking in the ports pay the Port Fees. There is no consensus on the new fees’ effects except to say nothing is going to get cheaper in the near future, if ever.

Donald Trump needs and–in the case of the Middle East—deserves praise. I won’t even add the phrase “if it all works out”. Well, I did, but in a good way because it will work out. We will have a new paradigm in the Middle East in the next few years, thanks to DJT. He may even get that Nobel Prize when he is eligible next year*. But he reminds me of my father. Dad was a gregarious, drink-buying, do anything for you, “loved by the public” person who was an entirely different person at home, behind four walls. No more about dad, but DJT is fostering peace out in the world while acting differently at home. Why?

A phrase heard a lot lately, in community discussions: “Some people always ruin it for the rest of us.” It was repeated in discussions about free performances and open spaces. The remarks were from civil authorities and disgruntled citizens who know the process where a community tries to make life better for all, and an “ungracious” few take advantage and scuttle the opportunity. Think bad graffiti on a newly painted park mural, or unruly attendees at an open-air movie event in the park. We all know it happens. Why? It appears there is a certain part of the population dead set on being selfish, ignorant, greedy, insensitive, stupid, thoughtless, self-destructive…ungracious. This segment of the population has always been part of life probably in the world, but more obviously in a free country like the United States of America where self-indulgent, self-centered, shameless, ungracious people are free to show just how ungracious they can be. It is important to remember this fact when we think about Government, and all it entails. For example, law enforcement where a few “bad apples” can ruin a police department’s reputation and harm its efficiency. Citizens stop supporting the department and all respect for law and order is lost. This type of selfish behavior is sometimes illegal, but more often just unpleasant, unproductive, and…ungracious. What do we do, just live with it? Factor it into our daily lives? Given our current social climate, citizens now have to be aware an ungracious person may also be exercising his or hers or their Second Amendment Right. Most non-ungracious(sic) citizens can then see the sense in sporting their own defense…and so it goes.

This is not an attack on that Second Amendment, but a grim statement of “Some people ruin it for the rest of us.”

Constitutional “Originalists” have a unique problem in their views on The American Constitution. The writers of the Constitution purposefully included Article V to allow for change, or Amendment. Google the first sentence for Article V and enjoy. It should be added that Originalists can rely on the words of Article V to offer support for their own interpretation, but the design and inclusion of the Article theoretically opposes an inability to be flexible in Constitutional Judgments. IMO. Plus, modern American Common Sense would admit what was written as a design for the new government in the musket-heavy days after the American Revolution might not be the best advice to follow in AR-15 America.  I own a gun so don’t think the worst of these last two paragraphs. Just think.

*Cut off time for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize nominations was January 31, 2025. Trump will be eligible in 2026 to win for his work in 2025.

Yes, Everybody Has An Opinion…Why? Is It A Law?

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

It is a struggle to get through the day without hearing not just opinions, but so many people defending having an opinion. Is there a course taught in how to form an opinion? How to plant the seed, nurture, it, and watch it grow to its rightful form? No, there isn’t. People acquire opinions like appetizers and a lot of opinions are dying on the vines due to lack of enriching truth. Most opinions are worthless, is my opinion. Follow these samples of real (paraphrased) conversations and  substitute “liberal” for conservative” and “Democrat” for Republican” in almost all these encounters. Worthless opinions are equal opportunity and DEI friendly. IMO.

“Legacy Media doesn’t tell the truth.” Question: “When was the last time you watched Lagacy Media?” The answer: “I don’t.”  See the reverse for Fox?

“There were no wars in Trump’s first term. He ended them all.”  Question: “Which ones?” Answer: “I don’t know.” You may not realize it but this question works for the Obama and Biden Years. Remember, Obama was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Bonus question: Why?

“The Covid virus came from a Chinese lab and Fauci is to blame.” Question: Why? Answer: “Fauci’s NIH paid for the research.” This one is tricky and you need to do your own digging, but in a nutshell: The US and China (and others) have collaborated on virus research for many years and the NIH sent a grant to a Non-Profit US research group to participate/monitor work in the Wuhan, China lab. Trump cut that funding in April 2020, as well as The PREDICT Program funding in September 2019. Google the purpose of PREDICT and draw your own conclusions, and opinions.

“Democrats only want immigrants to win elections” and “ICE is only arresting and deporting the worst of the worst.” Why would anyone believe either? The immigration problem is over 100 years old and been lied about by both parties for all those years. So when you search for an opinion about immigration, don’t select either of these. Think of it a complex issue needing much research.

“The Russian Issue in 2016 to 2020 was a hoax” and it’s partner: “Russia helped elect Trump.” Both these get the Jeopardy buzzer. 2016 was NOT the first time Russia attempted to influence American Elections. The cumulative effect of their interference, and if it helped Trump, will never be truly known, but it was real. America does the same thing, when we can. For years. So it was a trusty but ineffective device for impeachment in 2016-2020, but it was not a hoax. And will never be a hoax. Russia, China, North Korea, Hungary would love to see Americans question and abandon our free elections. It would be a victory for those countries. It’s not an opinion, but a question: Why are we helping them with that effort? Opinion: Donald Trump started the Period of National Doubt (PND) with his 2015-2026 claims the election would be rigged. He did it as a smart politician who knew he was going to lose the election and needed a good reason to save his political prospects. Smart move, but selfish. He did lose the popular vote so he carried PND over to 2020 and 2024. A decided win for him was not enough to disprove a lie he’d told for years, so…

The last opinions about opinions took too long. Election denying is a strange sport we should all be leery of. Some election deniers have since been elected by the very systems they said were rigged. None of them refused to accept the win. In my opinion, that says it all about election deniers.

The befuddled and buried point is don’t accept other’s words when you form your opinions. It is OK not to have one until you’re ready. Really. One of the favorite questions we should ask our opinion disseminaters/influencers is “Why?’ and “What’s in it for you?”

And then take the time to listen.

This may seem to be a political posting, but it is more about common sense. Think about it. Please.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect Presidency

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

I know. Sorry. But this isn’t really about The President as much as it is his entire government, so this doesn’t count as Trump Derangement Syndrome. More like Derangement, period.

Ai states: “The Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE) is a cognitive bias where people with low ability in a task overestimate their own competence and ability to do the task…this occurs because the less-skilled a person is, the less they possess the meta-cognitive ability to recognize their own incompetence.”

Pregnant Pause.

DKE was discussed in Trump’s first term, but back then he turned to established experts and administrators to fill the leadership slots in his administration. He fired most of them later, but not our point, here. This term he appointed cronies, sycophants, and Fox personalities to the leadership positions, often nominating someone just to piss off the democratic opposition. What he learned from the first term is he needed to appoint people dumber than him to run the government so he could tell them what to do. All of them. And they’d do it. He don’t need no stinking experts (sic) disagreeing with him. Ask RFK. The net result has been astounding.

DOGE “saved” tons of money. Programs and whole departments were cut, people were fired, and contracts cancelled. The Administration has been, is now, and will be sued until the cows come home*. But since nothing matters to the new administration but the Conservative Supreme Court, courts, judges, and legal actions in courts all across the country are simply the opening salvo of a legal war Trump knows his Supremes will help him win. Money, money, money, for lawyers, lawyers, lawyers.

In the meantime, the down-line ramifications of “The Doge Savings” (TDS??), means farmers, rural citizens, the poor, and anyone NOT rich are seeing services cancelled, important research ended, and entire communities thrown into chaos as properly legislated federal funding is “clawed back” to be used someplace else? Who knew all this would happen? The Heads of The Departments who fawn over Trump at their televised meetings? Ignorance is bliss.

Entire government departments are run, now, by people who have never run organizations so big and complex. Health and Human Services adjusts vaccination schedules for children in the middle of a measles outbreak. FEMA cuts funding and employees as floods and fires devastate red AND blue states. And the TDS appears to be used to send back ANY immigrant, not just the worst of the worst.

We shouldn’t be worried about DEMOCRACY as much as we should be worried about the entire country’s way of life. Farmers and small businesses, rural hospitals, cheap labor, food supplies, all in jeopardy due to this administration and DKE. Search how many times they have quietly backtracked on employee firings, program funding, and department missions. Waste??? You betcha.

Enough. If the US was your business, you’d trim the fat, not throw out the meat and bones. You’d look for savings that don’t threaten services, programs, and lives. You might even study and learn to understand the long-term effects of programs, instead of the immediate, short-term mirage-like savings. But that’s because you are smart enough to know you need help, you don’t know it all.

In another three months fecal matter is going to impact the air-mover and we’d better be ready. Personally. On our own. Our DKE government will not know enough to help. Or care.

  • As an old farm boy, I know what it means “when the cows come home”, which they always did. But Ai says: “it is an idiom meaning for a very long time, often with the implication something will be lengthy, tedious, or even pointless.” Huh. Pertinent?

Three Sentences…Again

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

The Texas redistricting story highlights the idiocy of modern politics since every state and party gerrymanders at a certain, justifiable time. Modern Republicans see the handwriting on the wall and will do anything, now, to change the inevitable future, including tying themselves in knots to justify their actions. Their Prime Directive**, misunderstood by a Texas politician: “We’re doing it now because we can.”

I’ve often postulated America is 30% Conservative, 30% Liberal, and 40% Independent. Trump was (mainly) elected by his motivated Conservative 30%. Wonder if the other 70% of America will be motivated in the 2026 elections…

One More Trump, thing and this sentence doesn’t count. He is building a 90,000 square-foot ballroom addition to the White House, has already gilded most of the White House offices, and paved over the Rose Garden. Joni Mitchell’s “Big, Yellow, Taxi”** comes to mind. Is there anyone other than his 30 per cent that thinks these are good things?

A recent conversation with a friend reminded us both of how prescient Star Trak was and is, even now. My friend recounted*** an episode where Chekhov, the engineer, had trouble communicating with an “older” computer system on an alien planet. “Ancient Aliens”**, anyone?

Another old friend helped me remember an old plan I had for America. The Retirement Years are ages 20 to 25 when we don’t need to work and can do whatever we want. At age 26 we enter the workforce and work until we die.

In trying to understand the recent political scene, it appears conservatives are inspired and motivated to be Republicans even though they don’t fully understand the Party. Democrats become Democrats simply because they don’t want to be Republicans. In a two-party system, what choice is there?

My opinion (as stated years ago) is the Republican Party is the party of GMGA, or “Got mine Go Away” and includes several “ladder pullers” like Clarence Thomas. The Democrats acronym will be “YHTMGSTSE”, or “You Have Too Much Give Some To Someone Else.” Yikes?

A sentence no one pays attention to anymore, should be drilled into all our heads as soon as possible: “No one is perfect.” As noted above, when we segregate (and hate) over party lines instead of human issues, our entire world suffers. It’s past time for good republicans, good democrats, and good independents to put the world back on track.

Nothing will come from the above 3 sentences until females take over the world. Men are too caught up in being men to see we need males to be good citizens, not power brokers and Alphas. If you want to see real male heroes, watch old TV Westerns like “Tales of Wells Fargo” or “The Lone Ranger” and watch characters Like Matt Dillon, Jim Hardy, and even 1960’s Andy Griffith.

Unrelated to anything, there is an Andy Griffith Show episode, “The Manicurist”, (Season 2 episode 16) featuring a young Barbara Eden. The episode highlights the power females have over males. And you don’t have to be old as me to appreciate real beauty.

** google it, google everything. Ai, too…just for fun. Its free, so…

*** It is always amazing to hear how avid fans of Star Trek, Star Wars, and other programs remember their favorites, even after many years. The Human Brain. Wow.

PS Everything is three sentences but this post should be better. Spent too much time on structure and not enough on content. Sue me.