politics

Stupid, Pointless Observations

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Some things will never change.

Modern politicians spend more time gaining and keeping power than legislating. Ask any of your elected representatives how much time–and money–they spend on redistricting, fund raising, campaigning, and then sitting on their hands in their elected offices. It is a bi-partisan effort but mostly fueled by people who do not believe a central, federal government is of any use to its citizens. Regulatory controls and safety limits are not needed. Let The Moguls be free to make unlimited profits in any way they can.

What better way to make that government useless than by getting elected to a majority and then doing nothing? At least those elected are getting some of their taxes back. Plus the bribes, pay-offs, and future employment from The Moguls.  Do a little research and thinking. This might be the “Five Dimension” chess all the Republicans are talking about.

Voting for a party instead of a person in all elections is the stupidest thing, ever, and the main reason we are in the mess we are in. It’s another bi-partisan effort that has been going on for years, and who started we will never know. But American voters are the problem for letting it happen. The public ends up with government by party leaders* instead of government by the people**. While the fault is with us all, own your vote and fix it next time.*** Vote for the best person to do the job.

You can’t run a civilization like a business. If we were a business, who would you lay off to help control out of control expenditures? And what would you do with them? Start a new, unfunded state for non-citizens? Do you let ailing citizens who can’t work and are near death just…die to save money? Could we hire citizens from another country? Transfer useless citizens to another country? Would we stop elections and hold “investor” meetings? It is really, really stupid to think of America as a business entity. Stupid and pointless. And cruel.

Have politicians and business leaders completely lost the meaning of money? Do all the new zeroes behind personal wealth mean those without the zeroes are doomed? How much a dozen of eggs costs means what to a billionaire? Even a millionaire? Even thousand-aire?

It’s hard to say exactly how many or in what percentage they exist, but there are a lot of people to whom the dozen of eggs means more than just the cost. People who can only afford a little of everything have to give up something when prices rise. Rich people might not know that, or care to know. Maybe a rich person who was poor once, might. Or maybe not.

But it is really stupid and pointless to not consider the plight of poor people. These days, just not being rich makes you poor. Watch advertisements and see how many businesses target poor people. Maybe the pharmaceutical companies…and beer…and unhealthy snacks and fast food…and cigarettes.

And where do the billions of dollars The Moguls have come from? Money trees? Cannibal Capitalism will not work. Google the French Revolution.

Final thought from Mark Twain in 1897: “There is no distinctly American criminal class except congress.” 129 years ago.

*Or in our current world: by the Leader, alone.

**Google party “whips” and see what that job does. Its name reveals all.

***This does NOT mean vote Democratic. But it does suggest voting independent. Note the small “i”.

***Mogul: “a very wealthy, powerful, and influential person.” Among other things. What a great diverse, word, right skiers?

Nuance Revisited

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I often write about things and try to add an anecdote to illustrate what is being written. Sadly, my aging memory is like the rest of us seniors: remembering anecdotes takes time, and their memory comes at odd times and places. They most often return to me in my car during the 15-minute drive to the Fitness Center at Turning Stone Resort and Casino, when “all hands are on deck” making sure there is no deer in the road and I stay between the lines. Yes, I could take the time to make audio notes, but how many of us–at any age–are so smart early in the morning?

Last Tuesday, a perfect case of “Nuance” was retrieved from The Deep Files*. It is also an example of other essays about critical thinking, as well as the admonition to “do your own research”.  Hopefully, you’ve read enough essays to be aware of all these issues.

The Case of the Absent Nuance is also a story about click-bait, silo information, and “new versus old journalism”, but for now let’s only ponder Nuance.

The breathless headlines stated variations of this theme: “Thousands of dead voters Found on Voter Registration Rolls.” Wow. Maybe Trump was right about election integrity? There really is Election Fraud? Several versions of the story did not get the facts wrong and did not seem to be biased, but there was an odd emptiness to the story crying out for more information. “Dead voters”?

North Carolina is the state where all this “seemingly” unreasonable electoral action “allowed” 34,000 dead voters to remain registered to vote. I lived in NC, a Republican controlled state, and know if there IS election fraud in NC it is by Republicans. (Google it, and enjoy, it’s old school and kind of cute, in a way.) But the actual cases of fraud in NC did not involve more than hundreds of votes. Was the fraud even deeper than reported?

By now you may have guessed the story of dead voters is an empty, inconsequential issue probably written about for its “click bait” power. Imagine both Dem and Repub readers wondering which party was “frauding”** now.  Imagine the clickers, commenters, and criticizers of all stripes.***

Here is the nuance: in any given year approximately 100, 000 North Carolinians die. A lot of them are registered voters. How do dead registered voter names get removed from current voter registration rolls? And does it happen in a timely fashion? Think of your own death: who notifies any election commission in any state of your death? Imagine if you lived half your voting life in NC and half in New York, for example. After googling how many died in NC, I googled how is the NC Election Commission notified of a now-dead, registered NC voter? You should google your own state and see if its procedures are any better than the Rube Goldberg****system in NC.

Is it a fact that 34,000 deceased voters are still registered to vote in NC? Yes, it is. But is it good journalism to call them “voters”? So far, no version of the story has articulated a very important “nuance”: did any of the 34,000 cast a vote? If so, how did they get to the polling place?

Kidding. Having dead voters on your voting rolls is a nonissue until we all get implanted microchips to send an immediate signal to the pertinent Election Commission not to expect us next voting cycle. The Chip could also tell our credit card companies to stop waiting for payment and our life insurance companies to send checks to beneficiaries seconds after we pass away.

There is an urge to ask this: Does a bear shite in the woods?

If it’s related to this essay, research it and figure it out.

Honor Nuance!

*The inner-sanctum memory area in some Latin-named part of another Latin-named part of the brain. Retrieving memories in old age is like being in a large warehouse where you know where everything is but someone has turned off all the lights. Advice: be patient.

**New word. Like it?

***Not lost on me is the irony of me being one of “them”.

****A lost Art. Ai or google, please.

Random Questions With Answers No One Wants To Talk About?

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How much is it costing the United States taxpayers to have Trump put his name on everything? How much will it cost the United States taxpayers to remove Trump’s name from everything?

How much did it cost to “gild” the White House?

Trump Media and some legacy media are trumpeting the destruction of Iran’s Nuclear Capabilities (INC)…again. That destruction is being labeled a “good thing for America”. How many times do we have to obliterate those unproven capabilities? What did we really obliterate in June, 2025, under the code name “Midnight Hammer”? Remember the bunker buster bombs* we dropped? Estimates of the costs of those bombs run into millions of dollars. Were they wasted?

For fun, google all the schools closing or eliminating educational programs due to lack of funding.

America and seven other countries, including Iran, “negotiated” INC moot with the JCPOA on July 24, 2015. Trump cancelled the “deal” in 2018. Is there a relationship between the 2018 cancellation and the 2026 urgent need to stop INC?

Why did Netanyu tell the world several times over the last 30 years INC was “two weeks away from a nuclear bomb”? Including in 2025. See the internet for all the videos.

Why does the Iran War of 2026 sound so much like the Iraq War of 2003? Anyone reading this old enough to remember “WMD” and “Yellow Cake”? What exactly is there about the Middle East that we fear it and want it at the same time? Is there a natural resource involved? Or is it a modern Version of The Crusades?

After bombs and threats and posturing, it appears a naval blockade has convinced Iran to negotiate, again. If the US had done the naval blockade in the first place would many innocent civilians still be alive? And the poor, innocent Bunker Busters and other destructive devices might still be alive today, too.

Anyone know how many innocent people have been killed, injured, or displaced by bombs, drones, and missiles in this new war? Anyone care?

Fallout from the Iran War has affected and effected every country in the world, causing loss of life, economic damage, and infrastructural ruin. All in the name of “Keeping America Safe”. Anyone have an opinion about how safe we are? Is a new 9/11 about to happen?

Iran’s rationale for the deadly actions it has taken historically, is a religious belief in Muslim law, social behavior, and the threat America poses to those beliefs.** Is that normal behavior for a religious group that feels persecuted? Maybe we could talk it out, hug it out, or understand?

Enough. America is now nothing but questions. When will they be answered? And by whom?

Or don’t we want to know?

Not a question: more Americans have been killed in The 2026 Iran War than have been killed by Iran’s Atomic Weapons. Did Iran have anything to do with 9/11? Google it, if you want an answer.

*Accidentally typed “boobs” here. Was tempted to leave it, given the latest facts.

**As well as America’s 1970s intrusion into Iranian politics, and other “events”.

The Decline and Fall of Nuance

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Nuance is a great word. It sounds cool, is interesting to spell, fun to say, and it is still shiny from lack of use. Like keeping your new car smell by not driving. Ever. In fact, it’s doubtful you even know what nuance means, and you certainly don’t know where the word came from, do you.*

Nuance. The word comes from “nubes” the Latin word for cloud but then the French got involved and romanticized it into their own word for “shade” or “slight variation”, per Ai. My Ai goes on to add in the lovely English accent I selected: “Think of it as those little, delicate distinctions that can make a big difference.”

Imagine all your conversations so far today. Nuance ever come up? Not just the word but maybe “the little, delicate distinctions”?

It’s doubtful. America learns to read and write and stroke screens but thinking, especially about “little, delicate, distinctions” is an effort left for…who?  Modern dissemination of facts and news has to be condensed into the 3 second (or less) American attention span. Unless it is a kitten, gossip, crepe skin, or has boobs, we don’t linger long enough for nuance. Do we really need it, anyway, that stupid French word?

Aha. Since you’ve made it this far you have decided we do. And you are right. A recent puzzle indicates why: “try to draw a perfect square with three straight lines.” Much like 2 plus 2 equals four unless you’re adding apples and oranges and not caring about the total amount of fruits and want to know…crap. Two plus two always equals four if you add context, or nuance, the little delicate you-know-whats. Eg; If you have two apples and I have two apples, we have four apples between us. If I have two apples, and you have one orange and one pear, we have a great start on a fruit salad, but not four apples.

To draw the perfect square with three straight lines, some add “distinctions”, like using the edge of the paper as the fourth side. An arguably “out of the box” solution but the puzzle itself already supplies the distinctions.** As we review our journey into the Land of Nuance, we learn to ask what does “with three straight lines” mean? If you’re sensitive to nuance, a “meaning” spurts out of this puzzle and longs for you to see it.

So what? We have trouble with a puzzles. Or counting. Big deal. It is a big deal. There is not a problem we face as a country, that is not loaded with so much nuance it’s a wonder we don’t sink into the oceans. All our problems like Wars, the Economy, Immigration, politics, work…all nuance-rich and ready to be emphatically debated, discussed, and solved. Nuance flourishes in trees like low-hanging fruit, on the ground like exposed diamonds, and floats in the very air we breath.

But we ignore it. We stumble over the diamonds, let the fruit rot, and nuance floats off into  space, a twilight zone none of us ever go to.*** Then we try to solve world problems we don’t understand with nuance-deprived solutions that don’t work and we look back later, and wonder why. Finally, we engage in nuance-free discussions about who’s to blame.

If you’re thinking this sounds like a domestic dispute leading up to a divorce, it is. Nuance is missing from our personal lives, too.

Nuance is obsolete. Whose fault is that?

*Added “do you” to avoid the dreadful prepositional ending. Got lazy, sorry. I should have looked for a better sentence structure. It would have been shorter than this explanation.

**Do I need the quotation marks anymore?

***No. Ai says it’s okay, these days. Worrying about prepositional endings is “old fashioned and clunky.”

WTF? No, Really: WTF?

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 It’s (nearly) spring in 2026 America and we have attacked Iran. Like most current ideas, it is not really a bad one, but–like most ideas–it hasn’t been thought through all that well. There are enough talking heads plodding ponderously and profusely about the attack so there is a danger of too much talk and not enough action. In addition, the level of punditry is always in an indirect relationship with knowledge, so the less said the better. I’ll just ask questions.

Why now? You can find videos of Benjamin Netanyahu proclaiming—and I’m paraphrasing— “Iran will have a nuclear weapon in two weeks” since the middle of the 1990s. (See The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, June 16, 2025.) They put the videos together because The United States and Israel had just bombed Iran and “Obliterated”* Iran’s nuclear ability, per our President. That was 10 months ago. A question: If it was obliterated, and Iran is being sanctioned, how did Iran’s nuclear capability recover so fast in 10 months?

And what is Putin doing about all this?

And Xi?

Does our aggressive bombing of Iran, along with our “regime change” in Venezuela, mean its okay for all the larger, more powerful countries to attack all the smaller countries? Are we trying to imitate Russia’s Ukraine Policies? Will Xi see a justification for attacking Taiwan? Japan? Indonesia?

Several months ago, I attempted to humorously describe a Super Conspiracy (SC) to divide the world into three Spheres of Influence (SIA). Russia would get Europe and some of Central Asia, China would get the East and Southeast, and we’d get the Western Hemisphere. Our action in Venezuela played into the SC, but what is happening with Israel? Are they trying to make it a Four Power SIA conspiracy? They Want the Middle East?  Would the three superpowers be okay with that?

Does anyone find it odd the relative lack of posturing by both Russia and China? They have both done their “lip service” requirements, but isn’t Iran a partner of both Russia and China, selling oil and gas for drones and missiles? Are the United States adventures in Venezuela and Iran depleting our military resources and (possibly) making it easier for Russia and China to begin their own adventures in the near future? If, so, how long will it take to ruin the current world order and set up the three (or four) SIAs?

Okay, here are some tougher questions: How much does each exploding Tomahawk missile cost? How many dollars get blown up by using  one Bunker Busting bomb**? Will we ever attack a non-oil-producing country? Of note, we have attacked Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, and Venezuela in recent years. How much of their oil production do we now control and profit from? Enough to pay the constant deployments of US Armed Forces? Who’s counting?

Aww, shite. Nothing is happening here, except me progressing from mad to depressed to silly to a heartfelt, dismissive “Thank God, I’m old enough not to care.” It’s almost over.

OMG, WTF is wrong with this world?.

*See The State of The Union speech by Donald Trump on February 28, 2026 when he repeated this claim. Days later we bombed the “obliterated” facilities, again?

**Depending on the size, $3.5 million to $13 million per bomb, per Ai. For an oxymoronic comparison, that is about what Juan Soto of the New York Mets earns for one third of the baseball season. Obscene fact: he makes $289,351 per GAME. Per Ai. How much do you make in a year?

Is It Politics Or Something Else?

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I’ve written many times about how I don’t understand Donald Trump. He is a draft dodger, convicted felon, sexual assaulter, porn star user, serial marriager(sic), serial divorcer(sic), and so good at making deals he filed bankruptcy 6 times to get out from under those very good deals. So, is he the Second Coming of Something for certain people? Yes.

This is a case of that Duality of Life essayed(sic) about on February 19, 2026. The Hangers-On who profit from Trump’s presidency are easy to understand: they are making money off Trump, a true case of Trickle-Down(slightly) Economics.* The more Trump makes the more they make, so those people are Pragmatic Capitalists. But what about people who don’t make money off Trump? Little people like you and me? Why do they support Trump? A favorite economics phrase: “A rising tide lifts all boats.” But most of us can’t afford a boat.

I can’t remember directly “profiting” from any president. Ones who lowered taxes, of course, left me with a little extra, but we all learn early, the less you pay in one spot the more you pay in another. Research the fees, licensing costs, local taxes, registration costs, etc, in low- or no-income tax states. But in Trump’s case, with ballrooms, new jets, all the gold thingys, kickbacks; and payoffs going to rich people, what are poor people getting out of a Trump Presidency? Can’t they see what is happening? Trump historically says one thing and then does whatever makes him the most profit. Period. Are poor people living a separate, dual life through Trump?

A Texas professor, A. Michele Dickerson, explained the phenomenon on the Daily Show, Monday, February 23, 2026. She wrote the Book, “The Middle-Class New Deal”, but in her talk gave a clear answer about why Poor People are not revolting against Rich People, like the French Population did in 1789. No, I am not advocating for guillotines and head-lopping, but it is a wonder how anyone with less than two nickels to rub together would support the rise and enrichment of not one billionaire, but the entire billionaire caste.** The Professor’s answer, paraphrased: We have been taught to look sideways, inside our own castes, for the problems facing us. She calls it “Looking Horizontally”. We have been trained to look at people who are in our same lower- or middle-class situations as the very people causing the problems. Example: immigrants take all the jobs.

Meanwhile, the Upper Class, The Rich, gather up all the money and power with impunity. The solution? “Look Vertically” says the professor. Her point is a variation on Information Silos, Tribe over Truth, and the phenomenon of families splitting over adoration for one Rich Man or another. Why is this happening?

Because it works. In many essays through the years, I have stated if you blindly believe in ANY candidate from ANY party, at ANY time…you are being snookered. Had. Fleeced. Taken for a ride. Grifted. Conned.

Political passion has always been a part of every election, but the virulence of recent times is the result of Rich People controlling Mainstream, Off-Stream, Mid-Stream, and Legacy Media, with the occasional podcaster or loudmouth pilot-fishing*** a profit off the backs of the Rich Man’s Media Strategy. They have used their soapboxes to make us look the other way, the Horizontal Way.

Spread your news consumption around. Watch something new. Look for The Manipulation. Personally, I watch Fox News at least once a week to see if anything has changed because they are the best at supporting the “Horizontal Look” and ignoring the Vertical. But they are not the only ones. Do this: find a news place where you disagree with what you hear and never stay with media that tells you what you want to hear.

Last word? Think. Please.

*Ai: “David Stockton”.

**Yes, we have a Caste System in America. Ai it.

 ***Beautiful symbolism, if I say so myself. Look it up.

What in the World Is Going On?

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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.

The End of Civilization…Maybe? A Minor Rant

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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.

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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

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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.