Tag Archives: books

TV & Reality

Posted in Abuse of Power, Cancel Culture, Cheating, Christian values, Climate Change, Crazy Nuts, Gambling, Liberals, Truth by

As my wife’s illness progresses, she has more difficulty with TV. I keep telling her the shows aren’t real. It angers her, accusing me of not knowing.

Reality television has increasingly blurred the lines between authenticity and scripted entertainment. Take, for instance, the popular storage auction shows that once seemed genuine. Initially, I believed in their raw, unscripted nature, much like how professional wrestling was once perceived as a legitimate sport. However, as I continued watching, the interactions became noticeably more choreographed. The verbal exchanges began to feel less spontaneous and more like carefully crafted dialogue, revealing the manufactured drama behind the scenes. This realization prompted me to question the credibility of reality programming and the extent to which these shows are actually “real.”

In contemporary television, scripted dialogue has evolved from polished, rehearsed exchanges to more spontaneous narratives that draw inspiration from current events, challenging viewers to engage more critically with the storytelling.

In our increasingly complex media landscape, discerning truth from fabrication has become a challenging endeavor. News programs, despite their polished studios and professional veneer, often present conflicting narratives that shift with alarming frequency. While these broadcasts remain our primary source of information, critical viewers must carefully navigate the terrain of reporting, constantly evaluating the credibility of each statement. The more inconsistencies and retractions emerge, the more skeptical audiences become, eroding trust in traditional media platforms and challenging our understanding of objective reality.

As I confide in my wife, professional football stands as our sole bastion of authenticity in a world of manufactured narratives. The raw intensity of athletes competing for championship glory seems unparalleled, a genuine spectacle of human determination. Yet, with recent gambling controversies casting long shadows across the sport, I find myself questioning its integrity. Perhaps the gridiron is slowly transforming into just another scripted performance, trading genuine athletic passion for manufactured drama.

The answer: A Newspaper

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The question: What is black & white and read all over.

Okay. It’s an old joke in reverse, sort of Jeopardy style.

it’s sort of a segway into my subject matter, newspapers and how drastically they have changed in just a short time.

Throughout my youth, newspapers never appealed to me. Reading was not my strong suit, and broadsheets were particularly challenging. The oversized pages seemed designed to frustrate readers like myself. Despite having long arms, I struggled to manage the unwieldy sheets. My typical approach involved spreading the newspaper on the floor and scanning for interesting articles. Inevitably, I would encounter the dreaded “continued on page…” instruction, only to discover that the remaining text could have easily been accommodated on the previous page. These layout choices only reinforced my disinterest in newspaper reading.

They couldn’t deceive me. I quickly understood their strategy. The goal was to divert my attention from the main content to the page filled with advertisements. The publication’s revenue primarily came from advertising, not the actual articles. Regardless of their tactics, it added to the irritation of the oversized pages.

My brother shared insights into the unique reading culture of New Yorkers during their subway commutes. He explained the skillful art of newspaper folding, a technique that allows passengers to navigate cramped spaces while reading without inconveniencing fellow travelers. By the time they arrived at their destination, most subway riders had thoroughly consumed the day’s news, making them remarkably well-informed about current events.

In the digital age, journalism has undergone a profound transformation. Traditional print newspapers have evolved, migrating from physical pages to vibrant online platforms. Readers now consume news through smartphones, tablets, and digital devices, maintaining their reading habits while in transit. Despite the technological shift, the fundamental human tendency to remain absorbed in personal digital worlds persists, with commuters still largely disconnected from their immediate surroundings.

There is, however, one major difference that I wish were the same. Back then, in that day, they printed the truth. The quality of delivery is a great deal better, while the quality of the reporting has suffered horribly.

So Why Did I Settle in the Mid-South?

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Rarely do my readers contemplate this nuanced inquiry. The essence of the matter lies in the delicate interplay of timing, misguided decisions, and a subtle lack of understanding.

During my military deployment in Japan, tragedy struck when I learned of my brother’s sudden death. Typically, such news guarantees emergency leave, but I faced several unexpected challenges. A significant strike had shut down the gates at Kadena Air Force Base, creating logistical hurdles for arranging transportation. Resolute in my commitment to my family, I was adamant getting their own flight.

While the Marines covered my ticket to San Francisco, I had to pay my way from San Francisco, CA to Fort Smith. I was also responsible for all my family’s transportation costs, which significantly depleted our savings. Reflecting on the situation, remaining in Japan for the duration of my service would have been financially prudent. Completing my term there would have resulted in discharge at MCAS El Toro, near Disneyland, and presented numerous advantages. Had I followed this path, I would have saved considerable money, returned to familiar territory, been surrounded by family, and quickly secured an electronics job, leveraging my years of experience in the field.

Once in Fort Smith, I applied and received permission to get out about a month and a half early, rather than have them send me back to Japan or elsewhere. I went to Memphis, where I had been stationed for a few months of training. It wasn’t my home stomping grounds, but it was the next best thing. There, after a short time, I received my discharge.

At that time, in the mid-1970s, Memphis thrived under Republican leadership, boasting a vibrant urban landscape and a robust technological sector. Four prominent computer companies maintained substantial offices in the city, creating a dynamic professional environment. During my job search, a pivotal moment in pop culture history unfolded—the unexpected passing of Elvis Presley. I collected several newspapers documenting the momentous event, a potential treasure trove of memorabilia that, if preserved, might have yielded significant financial value today.

After joining the company, a disturbing incident occurred when someone threatened my son with a knife on the school bus. Concerned for our family’s safety, we quickly decided to purchase a home in Desoto County. However, we soon realized we should have chosen a location even further from the urban center. The neighborhood’s character seemed to be rapidly changing, mirroring the challenges of nearby Memphis. Our sense of security was further shaken when an intruder broke into our home while we were present, brandishing a .45 caliber weapon – a scenario unimaginable just decades earlier.

Relocating to the pollen capital of the United States proved to be a significant misstep, given my severe allergies. Prior to Dr. WW Taylor’s comprehensive patch test, I was unaware of the extent of my allergic reactions. During the twenty-minute examination, I rapidly failed the test, prompting the doctor to remark that he had never encountered such an extreme case of allergies in his extensive medical career. My ignorance of my own health condition led me to make this ill-advised move, which would ultimately have substantial consequences for my well-being.

Hours after the medical examination, a chilling realization struck me: had the Marine Corps known the full extent of my severe allergies, my entire life trajectory would have dramatically shifted. I would have been disqualified from service, sparing me from deployment to Vietnam. Instead, I might have remained in California, living a completely different existence. Such thoughts of alternate destinies can consume one’s mind, spinning elaborate scenarios of what might have been.

Aren’t you relieved that some mysteries remain unspoken?

Baffled

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Baffled is the Word

I had to think this one over for a long time.  I had a hard time to think of the right word.  I passed on several words, such as confused and perplexed.  It just is that those words just simply don’t work.

Let me go back to my high school days when Life Magazine just might have published one of the best articles they ever wrote.  Actually, it was a series.  Though reading has always been one of my least favorite things to do, I read the entire series, very carefully.  If I had the series in front of me today, I would read it again.

I actually think it would be good for every high school kid to read it, maybe an updated version.  It certainly didn’t hurt me at all to read it.  There was a wealth of info in that series.

I guess the one part that fascinated me the most was the part on the brain.

After I read it all, some parts rereading it, I came to a conclusion.  We know very little about the human body, me even less.  The article on the brain just absolutely baffled me.

They described all the workings.  They wrote about the nerve cells and synopsizes.  I read about the chemicals and how different parts of the brains did different things.  But the question always came back, “But how does it work?”

I think I can safely say that only God knows.  I suspect even the angles haven’t a clue.

I really, really wished I had been smarter.  I could have become a doctor.  I could have done many people a lot of good.  I really would have liked that.  However, truth be known, the doctors, with all the research and learning, don’t really know the human body and how it works.

They have only begun to break the surface.  In a way, that might be good.  Too much knowledge can be dangerous.  With the knowledge they have, look at what they are doing with it.

They are turning girls into boys and boys into girls, but not really.  They yet do not have that knowledge.  They just think they do.

My wife was very smart.  However, she never got by basic math.  Working with letters as numbers totally confused her.  She had to take a semester of algebra in order to become a respiratory therapist.  Before she retired, she was very good at it.  She was never a doctor; however, she had to learn a lot of the same things that doctors learn.

When she got her degree, she knew the name and location of every bone in human body.  Me, I know the basic ones but I could never in the world learn all the names of them.  She learned 100s of medicines, their names and their uses.  But algebra, she couldn’t get past the ABCs.

It is more common than many might think.  I have seen many who are so knowledgeable and skilled in one area, and they can’t seem to get past the basics in other subjects.

Very rarely, you might come across someone with knowledge in a wide variety of subjects.  I guess, to some degree, Benjamin Franklin was that way.  He was likely a person who could converse with just about any kind of specialist… at least in his day.

I suppose it might be a way to keep the brain from being overloaded.  Can you imagine someone that would be right at home at a dozen or different skills or specialties?  Just remaining current in the different fields would be taxing on the brain.

And so it is, baffling is the word I must use.  How do we learn all we know?  Then too, how is it that people can be so intelligent in some areas and so lacking in others.

And it was, a short time ago that I learned of some very intelligent people who are not backing Trump.  Some, indeed, are backing Kamala.  It is baffling.  I think Pence is likely a pretty smart guy.  He must know what will happen if Kamala gets in there behind the desk in the Oval Office.  Yet, he has refused to back Trump, or at the least stay silent.  It does make me wonder who, if anyone will he vote for, and why.  Hopefully, it is not because of his ego.

Then, the one that really surprises me: Oprah Winfrey.  Now I don’t know her personally.  I have never talked to her, nor have I spent a lot of time listening to her.  However, one cannot live in today’s society without knowing a thing or two about her.  I must admit that I have a great deal of respect for her.  She is brilliant.  She has a true love to help people.  I suspect she would help more folks if the government would just get out of the way.

I have heard her speak and I must say I have been impressed by the way she speaks on many subjects.  She has accumulated a great wealth.  It takes some understanding of economics to accumulate it and organize it.

So… I went into my word search.  I settled on the word, “baffled,” when I heard her solidly back Kamala for president.  The one thing that baffles me so much is, when you consider all the harm that Kamala has brought on this world, as well as her current boss, how in the world could Oprah back a person who is so obviously dishonest?  She must know of all the lies she told during the debate alone.

I tried to reason it out but I think it broke my reasoner.  I would say it confused me, but that wasn’t quite the word.  It goes far beyond my understanding.  She has access to more info than I do.  She has had the opportunity to speak with Kamala.  She knows her history and she knows what she will do if given the chance.

I’m not sure, but I think she has meant and spoke with Trump.  She has seen what good Trump did.  She saw what Old Joe did.  It would seem she is totally without the excuse of ignorance.  I can, understand, to some degree, a person being deceived by Kamala.  But I’ve got to say that Oprah Winfrey is going into this eyes wide open.  No ignorance.  No deceit.  It absolutely defies logic.

I can’t imagine it being some kind of financial agreement.  It is so, so difficult to bribe someone who has more money than she knows what to do with.  Still, it does not remove the possibility of some kind of agreement behind the scenes.

Truthfully, I don’t know.  As I said, it’s baffling.

The Benefit of a Plan “B”

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Somewhere around 2010 they shut down the shuttle program, in essence discounting the most of the space program.

To most of us, it was a small thing. However, it was then that thousands discovered that they had no plan “B.” Many had families. The vast majority had bills, big bills. They likely had a little savings, not nearly enough. Many panicked. Many went down to the local hamburger place and found out that that plan “B” wouldn’t work. They weren’t hiring. Worse, the restaurants were making their money off the those that were were working for NASA. …And now, very few were working for NASA. And it was even worse. Had they got hired on and worked 60 hour weeks, they would not make the house payment. Just can’t do that on minimum wage.

It was something of a local depression. They all would have gladly sold apples but no one was buying apples. They would have gone into construction, but there were suddenly many vacancies. There was no need to build new homes. People were leaving by the thousands. It would have been a real good time to have a bunch of money to invest in real estate. The depression of land values was short. A person with a little spare change in his pocket had the chance to buy low and sell high.

Nonetheless, back to my point. It was those who had the good Plan “B” that did well. Unfortunately, there were not many. I mean, where does an aeronautic engineer go to find a job. They had one possible employer and there just weren’t many other places hiring.

I don’t know, but I would guess that most of those who had houses left. In many cases, they likely simply abandoned their homes, unable to sell them. I don’t know. It might have been one of those times it would have been better to rent. That way, it would be landlords who would be the losers when everyone started moving out.

I don’t have any idea what they all did, but I can guess it was whatever they could find, even if it was digging ditches. There is no telling how far they move from their former homes before they could find someone who would hire them.

It was worse than the catch 22. No one wanted to hire someone they knew would have to train, and then lose the instant someone starts building rockets again. It is the perfect example of being overqualified. So, suddenly, they wished they learned how to build houses, did plumbing or air conditioning in their spare time. At least then, they could go to an employer and say I already know how….

I was one of those who didn’t have a Plan “B,” though not part of the space program. I was making good money repairing computers. Then one day, I was called into the boss’s office in the late 1980’s. Need I say more.

In one day, the corporation of UNISYS decreased its employees by twenty percent. It was devastating not just to me, but to the rest of the20%. But I did see it coming. I hoped to avoid it, but hope just does not always work.

Oh, and by the way, my oldest son just started college. Wish I had had a plan “B.” They come in so handy when things suddenly happen, even when it isn’t so sudden.

Revisiting My Time As a Civil Engineer

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Honest, I never was a civil engineer. Never got past my first year of college. However, there was a prompt that I replied to in which I pretended to be an engineer for a short time. One of my suggestions was to do away with two way streets. One way streets have a lot of advantages.

As you could tell by my post, I would not make much of a city planner. Nonetheless, I did think of a few more advantages to one way streets. However, let me review the advantages I already mentioned.

Left and right turns would equally difficult. No one would ever need to wait for apposing traffic. Going into and out of businesses would be far easier, especially leaving a business onto a 3 or 4 lane road. Because of no turns against apposing traffic, there would be no need for left turn signals. Currently, much of the time shared in the intersection is reserved for left turns, north, south as well as east west. Though traffic must wait for all left turns.

Now for a couple of things I just thought of. The head on collision would almost totally be eliminated. I say almost, because there are cities like Memphis where some drivers would drive the wrong way. And, of course, head on collisions are usually the most deadly because of the relative speed. Two cars hitting each other at 40, have a relative speed of 80.

The U-turn would be unnecessary. 2 left or 2 right turns would serve the same purpose and would be far safer, though, I must admit, the driver would have to travel one more block. Some might not want to admit it, but having to look into headlights is tiring, and maybe even harmful. With one way streets, it would be very rare to have to look into headlights. Incidentally, it would also improve vision, especially at dusk.

As a little aside, considering the number of miles driven each day, there are very few accidents. Mostly, it is when a person disobeys a law either by accident or intentionally. Possibly, it is because of impatience or being in a hurry. I witnessed a few of the intentional ones, mostly running red lights. In Memphis it used to be against the law to turn right on a red light except where posted. They changed the law to read that you can make a right turn when safe and only after coming to a complete stop. It would seem there are many who just go barreling on through as if the light is not there. It makes me wish they never changed the law. It doesn’t hurt to wait a while. It can be far worse without the without the wait.

Kind of a sudden afterthought. It might after result in less out of “out of court settlements” too.

As the Youth Die

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, Border wall, Bribes, Build the Wall!, Christian values, City of Memphis, Communism, Crime, Deceit, Drug Abuse, Drug Culture, FOC, Immigration, Kamala Harris, Lawyers and Representation, Liberals, News Anchors, News media, Our Legal Systems, Politally Correct, Politcal Opinion, Uncategorized by

When I wrote my book, “Mitch” I tried to put passages in it that would drive the youth away from drugs. As you can see, that didn’t work. Not many read the book. If they read it, they haven’t paid any attention. I would say my words fall on deaf ears, but they fact is my words don’t reach their ears.

In one of the passages, the main character, Mitch, is explaining to Margo one of his worst fears as policeman in drug enforcement is to one day look down the barrel of a gun held by a twelve year-old. In the book, he doesn’t explain it further. The reason for his fear is obvious. Does he kill the youth in self-defense or because of his age, does he allow the youth to pull the trigger on him?

As I wrote the words, and more over the years, I do wonder if there are similar situations that police officers are put in from time to time. I suspect it does happens. Sometimes the officer allows the youth to pull the trigger. In some cases, the officer pulls the trigger, knowing that he will live with the regret… knowing that those who appointed him to protect and serve will accuse him forever and a day. For sure, many times the officer goes to prison.

Don’t get me wrong. The officer is not always right to pull the trigger. I would never make a good cop. I would be among those that might pull the trigger when the kid has a B-B gun. Then I would have to suffer the rest of my life knowing that I made a mistake, though it isn’t really a mistake. B-B guns frequently do look like real guns, especially in the heat of the moment.

When I was a kid, that sort of thing didn’t happen. Why is it so commonplace today? There might be many reasons. However, I know of two. When I was a kid, kids were not involved in crime. Today, it is more and more common for younger and younger kids to have real guns and pull the trigger with little or no reason. Without police, the eleven and twelve-year-olds would be shooting each other as, to some degree, they do today.

The second reason is a little more difficult to see, but it’s there. The proliferation of the drug culture. At first, it was just the adults that were the only ones shooting at each other over the drugs and money. I guess, in the future we can look forward to 10 or even 9-year-olds shooting at each other.

As the youth die, the dems don’t care. They do nothing to curtail drug use. In fact, they seem to do things to encourage it and the accompanying violence, you know, like letting the cartel import the poison over the border.

You never, ever see the dems shedding a tear at the loss of the lives of children, actually over anyone. It facilitates the goals of ridding the country of law enforcement by decreasing their funding, which only adds to the problem, which, of course is by design.

Can We Survive the McClellan Effect

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Others may have used the term, but as far as I know, I am the first to coin the term McClellan effect. Just what is the effect and why is it? When the south took up arms and attacked the north in their effort to begin their own nation, General George B. McClellan managed to somewhat fight back the attack. However, he did not take advantage of situation. Eventually, Abe Lincoln fired him. That is history. Most fifth or sixth graders in a good school system knows this.

For this reason, I feel he is best suited to name the effect after. McClellan was considered a good leader by many, until he had to lead. Some folks claim that the civil war would not have lasted as long and the loss of life would not have been so great if Lincoln dismissed him earlier. It turned out, McClellan was more politician than soldier. He preferred his recognition to doing his job. He totally enjoyed moving in the political people in Washington but he knew not how to fight a war.

He was a good peacetime general, but when the cannon fire started, his lack of skill could be easily seen by, well by a sixth grader.

I have no idea why it is, but during peace time, we turn the military over to the McClellans. It is why I call it the McClellan effect. Even during the short WW I, the leadership changed drastically. Eisenhower started WW II as a colonel. He climbed the rung pretty fast, to the point of heading all allied forces in Europe. How many generals of the McClellan type did he pass on the way up. Most likely as he passed them, they asked what that was that passed so fast.

Not all of the good generals made it to the top. They made a movie about him. If you get the chance, you need to see it, “The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell.” They tossed him out of the Army for having the nerve to suggest that planes can destroy even the biggest battleship. That angered a bunch of Navy admirals, even though everything he said was totally right. I don’t know how many of those admirals were honored but the B-25 was named in honor of Gen. Mitchell, the plane used by Doolittle in the raid over Tokyo.

Billy Mitchell was one of those generals who could not survive the politics of peacetime while the admirals did. I wonder just how many men died because of that.

Now, we are in a quasi peace time. It is an environment in which only the political generals survive. it makes me wonder just how many Billy Mitchells we have lost. If I were appointed sec. of Defense, the first thing I would do would be to fire all four and three star generals. From where I sit, none of them are any better leaders than I was. They do know how to say, “Yes sir,” to Old Joe though. And now our armed forces are degrading to far worse than when Reagan became president. Then again, I guess they can’t be totally guilty when you consider what they have for a commander in general.

The problem is, should we ever suffer another Pearl Harbor, would we be able to overcome the McClellan effect long enough to get the good generals in a place where they will do us any good. We might not have months. We might not have days. We might not even have hours.

Romance in the Workplace

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Many do not understand the reason for rules concerning romances in the workplace. Many understand them but prefer to ignore them. Then too, many businesses have no rules concerning such things. Those larger businesses that have no such rules likely will… as the results of a romance in the workplace.

The truth of the matter is, romances in the workplace frequently do work well, maybe 70% of the time. Where the problem is, is the other 30%. Let’s say that a real looker works two cubicles down from you and you see her in the elevator every day. She smiles and the next thing you know, your dating. Next thing you know, you ask her to marry you and she says yes.

Sounds like things are going to work out really well. Then, one day, you get a new boss, who is also her boss. Then one day, she’s no longer interested in you but rather the new boss. (after all he does make more money) So, now how are you going to feel having to work with the one you almost married and the one that took her from you.

Some people handle such things one way. Some handle it the other. There is frequently anger. There is sometimes violence. Now you are starting to realize why most large companies don’t like romances in the work place. It is very easy for the triangles to form, which can cause real problems. Personally, if I were the one in charge of the three of above in the imaginary triangle, they’d all be looking for another position. No leader, no manager wants to deal with such things if they don’t have to.

The problems can pop up in all sorts of ways. Let’s reverse the above. Maybe the woman takes up with her boss and then the boss takes up with another woman. In this day and age, maybe he leaves her for a man. On the other hand, what if a boss takes up with a woman, and she gets all the preferences. She gets the better tasks and the better marks. You do the harder work and she gets the privileges.

The real problem is that even if there is a perception of such a thing, the gossip goes around the office and before you know it and the position of the leader is badly compromised. I’m sure it is not restricted to offices. I am sure it happens in colleges and even in churches. Yes. That’s a fact, love triangles do form in churches and it can result in churches splintering into pieces. I have seen it.0

Now. As bad as all this might be, where the problem can get really bad is in the military. They can form for the same reasons and in the same way. They can have similar results as well. There is one big difference, well maybe three. No one can just quit. No one can just fire the people at fault. And finally, it can happen right in the middle of a shooting battle. The little problem has just made a life and death situation become worse.

We in the US have something of an advantage. We truly have such a big superior armed forces, we can deal with such things and still fight the war. Imagine if you will, a battle where we have a superior enemy force. Do you really want to be a captain in charge of a riffle company, about 200 soldiers, and one of these triangles pops up when you are and your men are struggling to stay alive. If you are a woman, do you want to put your complaint on hold until after the battle or do you risk lives and bring it to the notice of your commanding officer at once.

In some places, military life can be similar to civilian life. All the branches do have offices that are run similar to civilian offices. I have no problems with women in those environments. However, they don’t belong in foxholes, especially in the same foxhole as me. Moreover, they do not belong on ships. The captain of that ship does not need any distractions, even in peacetime. Certainly, he doesn’t need any love triangles. Moreover, the captain does have one more thing to deal with. Perhaps 300 men in the presence of 3 or 4 women.

Regardless, if it will cause problems, during a war it is the wrong time to find out. It can become a very deadly experiment. Romance on a cruise ship might be great. Not so much on a destroyer or aircraft carrier.

The Problem With Ordering Online

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Whenever, I order pizza online to be delivered, I order through Domino’s. It all works out good. The pizza is hot and the soft drinks are cold. The one delivering the pizza is friendly.

Then, suddenly I have advertisements show up daily on my e-mail. I know the e-mail has a little box to check to turn the ads off, but why.

It may seem strange, but when I want a pizza I know how to do that. I don’t need help. And I do find it annoying to have my computer used for their ads. It just rubs me the wrong way.

I would tell them personally, but I doubt it would help. Companies like that seem to have mindsets, and not just Domino’s. It seems I order a widget and suddenly there is an onslaught of ads for widgets. I just bought the one. I don’t need anymore for a long time. You know, they do last years.

Well, I am getting a little off the intended path, but I suspect I already have a few folks agreeing with me.

But here’s the hitch for Domino’s and the outfits like them. Instead of going to Domino’s to order my next pizza, I am more apt to go to Three guys, Marco’s, or even Subway… who makes a really good personal pizza by the way.

Instead of the ads drawing business in, they just might be driving people away. I consider it the unintended consequences of doing stupid stuff. And here’s the hitch, they think what they are doing is smart.