Coffee Maker

 Everyone is so persecuted.  I know this because I am well aware of labor unions and their effects on society.  Always eager to “help,” unions began righting wrongs of those persecuted, with the best intentions.

 

Labor unions are organizations that were designed to protect workers from corporate overlords literally working their employees to death.  Those unions were critical to the actual physical survival of workers in a variety of industries including mining, manufacturing, and transportation.

 

These are just a few of the many unions that remain active in the United States with origins in Europe to protect textile workers and miners from overly harsh companies and bosses.

 

In days of yore, too often, children were employed as mine workers, factory machinery operators, and general laborers, who put in too many hard hours of dangerous work for too little in benefits.  The obvious solution was to organize the workers and, by sheer numbers, create an appendage for the workers – something that had been lacking for decades.

 

Presidential input, public pressure, along with general empathy, exposed an environment long-ignored by greedy corporate magnates.  Workers united and, through strength in numbers – collective bargaining – were able to successfully make demands for better working conditions, enhanced benefits, and more money.

 

Being applauded by much of the lower- and middle-classes, labor unions eventually graduated from helping the lowly worker achieve safer and more humane treatment to becoming environmental activists and political shills – virtually all geared to helping the Democratic Party.

 

While one-sided in their support, unions have gravitated toward support from Democratic politicians who regularly, openly pander to union leaders, activists, and entire communities, with lofty promises – to be paid for with taxpayer monies.

 

“Icky” is an excellent word to describe this carnal relationship that demands a thorough cleansing after most demands are made for mo’ stuff.

 

Think about regularly traveled roads you take.  Everyday you dodge the same potholes, animal carcasses, orange construction cones and barrels, and overgrown medians, years in the making.  Although these avenues are unsightly, you realize there is a finite amount of tax dollars to address these issues.

 

Suddenly, one day enroute to work, you notice a new pave job, potholes vanished, and fresh painted lines plus newly mowed berms, create an almost pleasurable commuting condition for you and your fellow travelers.

 

Let me guess: it’s less than two-months before local elections.  Witness your tax dollars at work.  Anything for a vote.

 

That’s pretty much the way unions operate, too.

 

I was reared in a union town, and I witnessed it deteriorate from a world-known manufacturing center into a crime-ridden toilet.  This feat was accomplished with the help of both the unions and Democratic Party, alike.

 

This is a good time to stress that I am not pro-union nor anti-union; but today’s smarmy union-political affiliation has evolved into a mob-like operation, pressuring companies into strong-arm tactics, fleecing companies that are also known as: employers.

 

Speaking from experience, normally, people create a résumé, complete an application, or simply marry into a job.  Rarely do average people receive job offers from political agencies, corporations, or government entities; you need to apply.

 

That being said, let’s say we awaken every morning to make coffee and a modest breakfast.  I do.

 

Hi-tech coffee maker

While digesting my morning prescribed medications, my coffee is brewing to be extra strong.  I have several different types of coffee makers, to include a French Press, Italian Espresso percolator, automatic drip coffee maker, and a K-cup machine, to serve my caffeine needs.  None are difficult to operate.

 

In fact, my sainted wife also makes her morning cups of Joe, with ease, too.  It’s not as arduous as you may think.

 

Pour the appropriate amount of water into the coffee maker, add coffee grounds according to desired strength, wait until it brews, then enjoy.

 

I told you it was simple.  Of course, I don’t make coffee for a living, just for a daily defibrillator-type jolt.  It’s not a secret recipe that I use, either.  In fact, it’s actually printed on the outside of the coffee bag.  I’m sure it can be found on-line, as well.

 

But I enjoy making my own coffee because I can control the strength, type, flavor, size, and cost.  My coffee amounts to roughly 35¢ per cup, while major coffee shops sell a similar sized cup of coffee for somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 per cup.

 

Thank goodness this is not where the story ends, because I have so much more to say.

 

Just recently, I read a media article regarding the formation of a labor union branch to serve and protect baristas.  You see, baristas are snobby people who make expensive cups of coffee for wealthy people.

 

I’ve never actually spoken to a barista, but I dare say I have some opinions about them and their patrons, alike.

 

Sure, $4 per cup is bit extravagant for me, but evidently plenty of people are willing and able to fork over that kind of money for a pick-me-up brew, each day.

 

It seems as though baristas are decidedly overburdened with steam facials, coffee bean-stained aprons, and writer’s cramp, all in the name of caffeine and customer service.

 

Quickly drawing a line from slave-like treatment of young children miners of yore, to overpaid adults who gladly chose a career boiling water to transform coffee beans into Java, demonstrated pure genius in the war of words and ‘mistreatment’ demanding unionization.

 

Yet, the Starbucks Workers United is very comfortable with that line.  They evidently feel that brewing coffee, as a career, is just another rung on the ladder to canonization.  They are wrong.

 

The way I see it, making coffee requires little, if any, skill – other than those possessed by Smokey the Cat.

 

Here’s some free advice for any and all baristas: If you feel your job is so grueling that you need self-serving labor union to protect you, it may be time to find another job – a real job.  There are plenty out there.

 

Make your Mom and Dad proud by applying your college degree for something useful.

Keep Out!

In the spirit of multitasking, I am writing today’s story whilst on the road.

 

After a rough few years, what with the COVID-19 debacle, the “LEGITIMATE” ousting of President Donald Trump, and wading through the cesspool of Critical Race Theory, I felt I needed a nice vacation.

 

Just when I thought all the hysteria over spreading COVID, and wearing those stupid masks, I discovered I was wrong – really wrong.

 

A quick trip to Tallmart the other day brought me into close proximity of half the store shoppers wearing paper N95 masks.  Unfortunately, none of them would work if some super-spreader skateboarded down an aisle, coughing all the way.

 

Nearly all of those compliant sheeple had the ol’ N95’s dangling under their chins, or hanging off one ear, Biden-style.  But I digress.

 

In any case, my sainted wife is taking her turn driving, Smokey the Cat is confined in his cage, and I’m seated in the passenger seat with a laptop computer and a chilled dirty martini.  And we’re headed to Mexico!

 

None of us have ever been across the Southern Border and thought this would be an excellent time for a vacation.

 

Except for my sainted wife, none of the rest of our “crew” speaks Spanish.  My sainted wife often dazzles our neighbors and friends with her Spanish-speaking abilities, by counting from one through eight, in Spanish.  Ocho, by the way is eight.

 

Before you get ahead of this adventure, take a breath, another sip of coffee, and a drag from your Marlboro, before continuing.

 

We have friends who regularly vacation in Cabo San Lucas who enjoy regaling us with stories about pristine beaches, breathtakingly blue waters, and nearly perpetually pleasant weather.  Who could resist?

 

Certainly not us.  In fact, I’m ardently searching for a huge velvet sombrero in order to disguise me as a way to prevent countless Mexicans from vying for an autograph.

 

Be that as it may, I have an ulterior motive for heading south.

 

Only days ago, I fell out of my KnollStudio Cross Check chair when I heard a TV news story that yet another fifty-illegal aliens that had illegally trespassed across our border were getting bonus prizes for breaking America’s laws.

 

Many illegal aliens – all criminals because they failed to follow our laws – waded across the Rio Grande River, the tacit border between the USA and Mexico, to access the Land of Opportunity.

 

Once in the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris desperately desired to meet with these future American citizens.  Unfortunately, as she aptly once pointed out, ‘she hasn’t been to France, either.’ 

 

Whatever the hell that means, she is as lost in the jumbled world of geography as Smokey.

 

But here’s the fun part: these illegals, largely from South America, are loaded onto busses to be chauffeured to many other states.  New York, Illinois, Florida, California, are just a few that are chock full o’ Spanish speakers who can make their brethren feel welcomed.

 

VP Harris, whose one brief trip to Texas was more of a photo op than investigation of the ongoing invasion, continues to repeat the mantra that the “Southern Border is closed.”

 

It’s not, which is why we now have more than 2,000,000 illegal aliens having crossed that border since VP Harris’ boss, Joe Biden, assumed the office of the President in January 2021.  For the record, the aforementioned Biden is not the “Dr.” Biden in the family.

 

Here’s an interesting note: Many states and subsequent cities have proudly declared themselves “Sanctuary States, and Sanctuary Cities,” since the influx of all those lawbreakers who snuck across the country lines.

 

A quick look at the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of “sanctuary” reveals the word means “a place of refuge or safety.”

 

That should be enough information to settle any further discussion as to which guvment officials are condoning this nefarious behavior from non-citizens.  Again, it’s not.

 

Really smart people – most of whom are thought to be Democrats, Leftists, and other wannabe Commies – have all been cheering the sanctuary status of these various rogue government entities, for years.

 

Announcing that “all are welcome” and “no one is illegal,” these liberals have been back-slapping one another over creating a two-class environment from which they are immune.

 

Immune?  Yes, immune.  The anointed among us are tickled to appear to be open to the idea of illegal aliens – criminal miscreants – invading our cities, towns, and states, all in the name of inclusiveness.

 

However, the piousness mysteriously vanishes when their own gated communities, over-priced neighborhoods, and semi-remote islands find themselves taking in these needy asylum seekers.

 

To prove this point, Florida Guvnor Ron DeSantis offered fifty-illegals in Florida a trip to a lovely, posh island called Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.  The Vineyard is home to Mr. and Mrs. Barack Hussein Obama, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Tom Rush, Maria Muldaur, David Letterman, Bill Murray, Bill Clinton, Meg Ryan, Quincy Jones, Larry David, and Chelsea Handler – among others – none of whom are likely Right-leaning.

 

Guvnor DeSantis thought it might be a nice gesture to offer a free trip to the fifty-illegals, to The Vineyard; after reviewing release forms, maps, and a travel itinerary, they boarded a private jet to fly them to the proverbial Promised Land.  Along the way, they were each issued a cell phone, gratis.

 

As if on cue, Gavin Newsom, Lori Lightfoot, Eric Adams, along with Sandy Cortez and other concerned racists immediately took to the airwaves and print media to complain about this generous gesture calling it “political” in nature.  Oh, my.

 

Others were bused to NYC, Chicago, and California, based on the will of the highly needy new guests to America. 

 

Suddenly, though, the red carpet was rolled up because, according to Newsom, Lightfoot, and Adams, there was no room within their jurisdictions for these refugees.  What is one to do?

 

The White House has repeatedly confirmed they have secured the Southern Border.  They also bragged that they “fixed” the mess former President Trump made and left for them to clean up.  Now what?

 

It seems as though a whole bunch of these drowning politicians are realizing their ship is sinking ahead of the November 2022 elections, and they need a lifeboat.  Their sharp stick in the eyes of conservatives and Republicans is the plan to save themselves.

 

Playing fast and loose with the truth for over a decade has finally caught up to those who hate America and Americans.  And judgment day is quickly arriving.

 

In the meantime, once my sainted wife, Smokey, and I get to Mexico I hope to be sent to Martha’s Vineyard, via private jet, and find sumptuous accommodations awaiting me, for nothing.  And a free cell phone.

 

 

Whipped Cream

 How many guvment agencies exist?  According to Forbes, “…no one can say with certainty anymore how many federal agencies exist.”  Oh, my.

 

Also known as the “nanny state,” over-control is not only intrusive, but also punitive.  Closely watching its inhabitant’s goings-on, such meddling is often embraced by the ‘you-know-whos.’  Credit card purchase snooping, tracking your driving, obtaining access to your cell phone, are all ways guvment likes to be uber-instrusive.

 

Think back to elementary school or high school or even your urban neighborhood.  There were always those sixth-grade kids who brought a pack of cigarettes to school.  The logical place to pass them out to fire them up was the Boys Room.  

By chance, the kid who ran back to tattle on us – uh, the other kids smoking and gagging – returned with a teacher.  Standing there coughing around a pile of lungs on the tile floor, we adventurers now had a good spanking waiting for us at home immediately after meeting the principal.  Thanks, you little Boys Room weasel.

It would be appropriate for those weasels to eventually become the directors of some, or most, of those intrusive departments and agencies, only to help make everyone else’s life as miserable as theirs.  But I digress.

You’re likely familiar with most, if not all, of the official United States guvment departments.  They were created over the centuries to better manage the machinations of running a country and continue to grow – almost exponentially – to the chagrin of most residents. 

Those departments are fertilized by bureaucrats with lofty ideas on how to not only manage the country’s affairs, but to control the populace for their own good. 

A short list of a few of those agencies includes the Departments of Justice, State, Defense, and Interior; those are then broken down into agencies.  For example, the Department of Justice is broken down into the FBI, Bureau of Prisons Drug Enforcement Agency, BATFE, etc.  And so it goes, ad infinitum.

It seems as though these guvment entities are all disciplinary, in nature.  In case you’re mentally wandering in an attempt to think about some that are not, please continue reading.

 

According to news reports, the FBI has been involved with manipulating elections for some years; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, are actively trying to outlaw the Second Amendment; the Department of Defense is blaming slavery and racism on its soldiers; the Department of Transportation blames White Americans for urban bridges that are allegedly keeping Blacks from going to the beach.

 

The Department of Treasury houses the ever-popular Internal Revenue Service, Secret Service, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States.  The IRS is going to hire 87,000 more armed employees to better help you with your tax returns.  Wink, wink.

 

Not to worry, though.  There are plenty of Boys Room weasels who apparently now have federal jobs to continue their mission to get EVERYONE in America to hate them.

 

In Washington, D.C., Miriam Bowser, the Mayor, is claiming the influx of illegal aliens is causing her agita.  It’s not.  What is causing her angst and pains is her hare-brained plan that made Washington a “sanctuary city.”

 

Chicago, Ill., Mayor Lori Lightfoot, has been crying crocodile tears for years over the soaring crime rate.  She blamed White reporters for reporting only the bad news; perhaps they should have complimented the funeral floral arrangements for a more positive note.

 

Guvnor Gavin Newsom has turned a blind eye to smash-and-grab robberies, carjackings, and blatant shoplifting, all resulting in bankruptcies, mayhem, and death.  He went so far as to authorize free drugs and paraphernalia to addicts.  That’s deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

And so it goes with the guvment – from the local levels to the federal altitude – always having a solution, then searching for a problem.

 

New York Guvnor Kathy Hochul, just announced a solution: prevent anyone under the age of 21-years old from buying aerosol whipped cream.  Evidently, the 108,000 fentanyl-related deaths in 2021 are not as big an issue as those deaths from whipped cream.  An ardent interweb search revealed no statistics related to whipped cream.

 

In the spirit of helping, I propose establishing a much-needed NEW guvment department:

The Department of Enough Already.

 

Just a thought.

What Next?

 During a recent visit to the doctor’s office for a regular checkup he began with something new, at least new to me.

 

He started the visit with a question about my name, exactly expecting my full name – middle name included.  The next question was my date of birth, followed by my age.

 

Then he asked me what today was.  I aced the name part along with my birth date and advanced age.  But becoming more irritated by the moment, I barked out, “Friday,” when he queried me as to “today.”

 

“No!” he replied sternly.  “What is today’s date?” was his unvarnished demand.

Universal symbol of doctors

 

I didn’t know and I said so.  I explained that I wear a wristwatch to help me not only with the time, but the date, as well.

 

After some testy banter about cognitive abilities in the elderly, he insisted I should know the actual date of the day in which I awoke that morning.

 

Following a good tongue-lashing, I took my turn to calmly point out that I was sitting in his examination room largely because I was aware of this appointment.  Amen.

 

However, logic is not his strong suit and the banter began anew.

 

This is where I tried to tell him I found my way to my car, drove to his office without getting lost, and arrived on-time on the correct specified date. He was unimpressed.

 

He then tried another approach: the What Ifs Approach.

 

He posed another series of lame questions that also fell flat.  “What if it was a holiday and you needed to go to the bank?” he pried.  He pointed out, “It would be closed.”

 

“I don’t go to the bank,” I said; “I’m married and have no money,” was my best wise guy comeback.

 

And so we proceeded as though he had no other patients awaiting his attention.

 

“What if it was Election Day?  You might miss voting if you were unaware that Tuesday was unlike all the others,” he added, pointing his index finger as punctuation.  “I know how political you are; you’d hate yourself if you missed Election Day!

 

Indeed, I would.  But in the spirit of the times, and to quell his concerns regarding my elderly state of mind, I thought it was high time to do some ‘splainin’.

 

Through basic deduction, I realized we were closing in on November, in general, Election Day, in specific.  The shenanigans of the past two-years have been bordering on out-of-control insanity, largely being led by Democrats.

 

Shutting down oil and shale operations, forcing prices on EVERYTHING to skyrocket, being exposed for teaching racist lessons to children in elementary schools, forcing the total shut-down of free speech in America, bullying rational Republicans, attempting to force everyone to buy costly electric vehicles rather than houses, creating a shortage of tampons and computer chips, starving infants with a lack of baby formula, buying expensive foreign oil from despots, attempting to overturn The Second Amendment, opening the borders to illegal immigrants and terrorists, and trying to bargain with a known terrorist country Iran, I could tell we were months away from an election.

 

But with the White House, Congressclowns, smarmy Senators, and the mainstream media suddenly jumping off the sinking USS Brandon, I could smell we were approaching November of an election year.

 

Poor Vladimir Putin has been vilified by all above-mentioned members of the Democrat Brain Trust since before Donald J. Trump was elected President in 2016.  Lies, lies, and more lies have been the standard of Democrats and RINOs alike, who despise Mr. Trump.  Why?

 

People hate the last President because he can’t be bought, while his accusers are jealous and can be purchased for a few shekels.  And that doesn’t fare well.

 

With local and national primaries in full swing former President Trump has been largely successful in endorsing and selecting – with few exceptions – candidates for the upcoming mid-terms.  Now those arrogant Democrat incumbents are absolutely terrified that Trump’s clout is still intact.  And they should be.

 

Although the lies continue, and are even increasing, Democrats are running in overdrive to prevent a political bloodbath of their own making.

 

To combat this upcoming SHTF storm, we miraculously have a new proverbial boogeyman in the form of an international crisis.

 

Since the war in Ukraine failed to drag the United States into another “endless war,” the new calamity appears to be something called Monkey Pox.

 

Not being a medical professional, I only know what I read about this upcoming catastrophe.  Evidently, Monkey Pox is a disease spread by gay men.  Enough said.  I’ll stop writing here so that you may draw your own mental picture.

 

Unfortunately, World Health Organization (WHO) “experts,” the same experts that lied to us about the COVID-19 flu, are expecting us to believe them when they say this gay man’s disease makes everyone in the world susceptible.  It’s unfortunate because WHO officials are wrong.

 

In any case, Dr. Anthony Fauci, our home-grown medical professional fabricator, is urging caution.  Not unlike Nostradamus, I can see the near future and another round of questionable voting drop-off boxes, unresolved mail-in voting ballots, and deck-stacked poll watchers, in the November mid-terms.

 

So based on all this, and even more unbelievable contrivances likely in the works, I can actually taste the month of July.  July is only four months from Election Day and the scent of Republican victory wafts through the air like the sweet aroma of a fresh baked apple pie.

 

It was at this point I reached the door of my doctor’s office that he bid me a farewell and told him to remember to vote.  Our country’s future depends on our votes.

 

And I won’t get the day wrong.  I promise.

World Peace

 For as long as I can remember, debates have been spinning around how to achieve and maintain something universally elusive: world peace.

 

Before we can further plod into attaining world peace, we need to define it – and that is as difficult to distinguish as it is identify.

 

Rather than characterizing “peace,” let’s do some inverse analysis.  War is different from conflict, conflict is different from unrest, and unrest is different from disorder.  So, what exactly is peace?

 

According to reference.com, “There are 10 official wars and 8 active military conflicts recognized by the United States, right now.  There are also violent conflicts involving 64 countries and 576 militias and separatist groups.”

 

That’s a lot of anger that is generating plenty of death and mayhem.  But is an absence of fighting, “peace?”

 

Some further examination suggests “no.”  Today’s current political climate in the United States finds us in a daily situation in which people quickly take sides on not only simple debate, but legislative matters, civil behavior, and even the number of sexes in nature.

 

As a product of the Baby Boomer generation, I can speak with authority that our country was just coming off several brutal years of World War I and World War II, when the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War ensued.

 

Americans were tired of fighting, while Gold Star parents were on the rise.  Newly minted high school and college teachers and professors – many of whom were the yield of anti-war liberals – began teaching our next generation about the “imperialistic” manifestations of colonial America and its allies.

 

Such self-destructive notions began creating a sort of “parallel society” with the demise of prayer in schools, the rise of “the me” culture, and the ultimate replacement for everyone’s attention: global cooling.

 

As is evident, global cooling was debunked, only to be replaced by global warming.  That, too, morphed into a more nebulous religion-substitute: climate change after following the science failed to prove their swill.

 

Almost immediately, the lost souls in need of a cause began finding answers for anything and everything in the weather.  Please read that last sentence again.

 

Flooding caused by altered weather patterns, hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, tidal waves, even earthquakes, became the alleged results of man and civilization, all of which without question or debate became the new religion promoted by Leftists and weak-minded school children along with compliant teachers and parents.

 

Simple inclement weather – such as snowstorms – became news items warning of dire times in the very near future caused by human disregard and mistreatment of our sacred planet, while regular spans of hot, summer temps are touted as the product of bad human stewardship.

 

Effortless thinking by reporters and newly minted scientists and uncredentialed, self-proclaimed environmental experts, was splashed across social media as gospel to be used in furthering the narrative about our dying planet, no debate necessary.

 

In fact, if anyone brought up a climate-related item for debate, discussion not acknowledging permanent destruction of Earth is viewed as lies and fake news, and therefore censored.  There’s no room for honest dialog.  Amen.

 

All this makes for a good smoke and mirror show, but it has no substance; even more disturbing, it has no end so, we will NEVER reach an end to the manufactured hoopla and regulations – not unlike the pandemic hype still circulating.

 

In an effort to “go along to get along,” many people simply ignore the eco-terror, or remain silent upon being confronted with “official” dire warnings and threats of imminent extinction.

 

This is about the time you’re asking yourself, “How does this pertain to world peace?”

 

Please read on.

 

To keep the pressure and fear fresh, Democratic operatives – now firmly entrenched in the Biden Administration along with schools – regularly publicly pontificate, pretending to be experts in any subject about which they are speaking.

 

Recently, the familiar goose-stepping lackeys composed of Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sandy Ocasio-Cortez plus the rest of The Squad, and John Kerry, have been making the rounds encouraging all Americans to buy and use renewable energy products.

 

Those renewable energy products include solar panels and windmills, both of which are as unreliable as the weather, on which they rely to produce electricity.

 

Enter the Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, to set the record straight.  Granholm is a lawyer who made a name for herself as a Michigan Attorney General, eventually finding her way into the Michigan Guvnor’s office.

 

She appears to have a demonstrated knack for regularly choosing the wrong solution for the wrong problem in Michigan schools and treasury.  And as Energy Secretary, she is continuing her questionable track record.

 

Not necessarily anyone’s idea of a gold standard, Granholm’s effort to, once again, solve a problem is missing the mark.

 

Since her occupation of the Department of Energy, Granholm has witnessed Americans suffering nose-bleed fuel prices, doubling in most cases, while she literally laughs at questions on her efforts to get them under control.

 

Appearing on a Sunday news talk show on August 21^st, Granholm proudly offered her best solution for people – the average American who cannot afford current gas prices or much of anything else in this inflation-affected economy – simply buy solar panels.  ‘Nuff said.

 

While discussing the much-applauded $437,000,000,000 climate change bill, just signed by her boss Joseph Robinette Biden, Granholm averred Americans needing financial relief should merely buy $20,000 worth of solar panels in order to save a lofty 30% woven into the aforementioned bill.  What apartment dwellers should do was left unanswered.

 

Using words such as “significant incentive” and “reducing costs for people,” Granholm has clearly proven she is out-of-touch with Americans and America, itself.

 

But it was Friday, August 19^th, on a Voice of America News show, that Granholm confirmed her status as a non-Mensa member.  It was during this interview when she blurted out possibly her best deep reasoning, ever.

 

She proudly stated “No one ever weaponized access to the sun.  No one ever weaponized the wind.”

 

There you have it.  Continued use of any fuel source except renewable energy will preclude the world from achieving the so-elusive world peace.

 

With America’s ardent, painful exercise to punish its citizens for using fossil fuels, Jennifer Granholm sees nothing but good times and prosperity and world peace.

 

Let’s hope she finds a new job for which she may be qualified: scraping gum off sidewalks. Sooner rather than later would be beneficial to all Americans.

Thinking Cap Time

 It’s time for another quiz.  So, put on your thinking caps and let’s see how life-savvy you really are.

 

Q:  What do tea leaves, a Magic 8-Ball, Nostradamus, countless pundits, and beach sand have in common?

 

A genuine Magic 8-Ball

If you’re not totally stoned, you are likely trying to connect the dots between the above five items rather than searching for munchies.  Here’s a clue before you answer.

 

Tea leaf reading, also called tasseography, is a fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves.  Evidently there is a whole science involving turning the teacup upside-down, right-side up, twisting it, positioning the handle, and other such gyrations, to see the future.

 

A Magic 8-Ball is a true asset to fortune-telling that involves shaking a sizeable black plastic billiards-like ball.  Inside is a secret liquid in which floats a die-type of polygon with varying inscriptions.  Those writings are answers to questions posed by the shaker.

 

Nostradamus was a seer who lived from 1503-1566, in France, allegedly predicting future events, published in his book Les Prophéties.  He supposedly predicted many future events including the assassination of President John Kennedy, World War II, and the 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

 

I added “countless pundits” because it seems as though anyone with a computer, microphone, or Smartphone, is now considered an “expert” in any- and everything.  Of course, some analytical skills and research ability helps with accuracy, but they pontificate, nonetheless.

 

Just as the nuns in elementary school used to throw us curve balls in tests, this is one of those.  Certainly, real students of current events should have figured this out, with aplomb.

 

Beach sand is the sand that can be found at the beach, hence the name, plain and simple.

 

A:  All these are predictors of the future.

 

While some attempts at seeing the future are more accurate than others, they all have their place in explaining away upcoming events.

 

Concentrating on the beach sand clue, President Joseph Robinette Biden has taken more trips to Delaware beaches than a person can imagine.

 

Spending time at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and his home in Wilmington, Delaware, he has taken roughly fifty-trips to those sandy beaches since taking office.

 

That would not necessarily be big news, but also since taking office his feeble-minded policies have driven fuel prices through the roof, added $500 to the average monthly household budget, tanked most people’s retirement accounts, created a sustained invasion on our Southern border, and spent more money than a drunken sailor (my apology to drunken sailors.)

 

In any case, those same reporters desperate for dirt on former President Donald Trump – who regularly hammered him for his regular golf outings – cannot seem to find the time or ink to demand answers for Biden’s habitual absences.

 

But getting back to the beach sand, perhaps Biden is searching the beaches for answers to those pesky problems and questions.  In all honesty, I’ve spent seemingly countless hours at one beach or another, and never discovered an answer or solution to anything – including fishing.

 

Maybe Hapless Joe thinks otherwise.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that someone with at least half-a-brain is scratching messages on the Delaware beaches in hopes our current president can find some answers to these self-induced problems.

Value of Money

 Sixty-three years ago, or so, I was introduced to money.

 

I was a young lad who made regular trips to the corner grocery store, picked up strangers’ trash on our sidewalk, and feebly attempted minor housework, for pay.  My pay was meager, at best, and usually amounted to pennies, but rarely anything silver.

 

Keeping the change from bread runs – bread was 5¢ a loaf, and I was given a dime for the purchase – helped me earn money.

 

Money back then was, well, different.  We bought popsicles for 4¢, comic books for a dime, baseball or football card packs for a nickel, and newspapers were a whopping 3¢.

 

Of course, salaries were much more modest then, too.  The federal minimum wage was a mere $1 per hour.  In perspective, society was doing pretty well.

 

But back then, people bought what they could afford, rarely overextending themselves for anything except a house, all else was bought COD – cash on delivery.

 

My early earned money was all in the form of coins, and fortunately I was a fairly clumsy kid usually returning home with minor wounds from playground falls, bicycle scrapes, along with briar patch punctures. 

 

One of my early bank vaults

All those maladies were quickly cured with a Band-Aid and a kiss from my Mother. Eventually the Band-Aid box was empty, at which time I received the coveted Band-Aid box trophy.  Those boxes back then were made from metal and had a hinged lid, and I loved them.

 

This ersatz safe/bank vault served me well until that magical day when my pennies, nickels, dimes, and a quarter added up to one dollar.  That was my first earned dollar which I remember to this day.  And I couldn’t spend it fast enough.

 

My Grandmother made a quarterly pilgrimage to a downtown store named Woolworth.  Woolworth was what was known as a “variety” or “five and dime” store.  It was a precursor to Target.  This next trip was special because I went with my Grandmother on the bus to Woolworth’s.

 

Once there I quickly spent my dollar on a package of small plastic toy boats that cost about $1.  Those boats sailed in both the kitchen and bathroom sinks for months, creating fond memories until this day. 

 

But my big lesson was money is hard to make and easy to spend.

 

Working on my second dollar was an excellent autodidactic exercise in finance.

 

Throughout life I’ve met people who have no idea how much a dollar really is worth.  Back then, when minimum wage was $1, one needed to work ten hours to earn ten dollars. I’m not going to get into the weeds on taxes and other deductions, now.

 

One million dollars is one thousand dollars a thousand times.  A billion dollars is a thousand million.  A trillion dollars is a thousand billion.  And that’s a lot.

 

Unless you’re Plugs Biden, President of the United States, that is. Biden is not only a liar he is out of touch, incompetent, and generally hapless.

 

This man has no clue how much a dollar is worth, and he proved that once again.

 

He spent $1,900,000,000,000 in a COVID-relief package earlier this year and is now spending another $7,000,000,000 to alter the weather through some inane climate change legislature.

 

The good news is that Biden promised that any tax increases would not affect families making less than $400,000 pre year.

 

The bad news is that Biden lied again.  Inside this catastrophic bill is a budget for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to hire 87,000 new personnel for the purpose of “taxing the rich.”  Who are the rich?  Apparently, anyone with a pulse.

 

Wearing that normal stupid grin, Biden proudly announced this unbelievably irresponsible next step to bankrupting America.  With promises of this fiscal nightmare actually benefitting our future, one financial expert after another has declared this Democrat Inflation Reduction Act punitive for all Americans.

 

Clearly entering a recession in August 2022, the Biden Administration has denied our financial position by redefining the word “recession.”  Changing the name of a “turd” doesn’t make it smell less.

 

In any case, those voters who couldn’t wait for President Trump to vacate the Oval Office are now ruing the new occupant after roughly twenty-months.

 

To solve this money issue is pretty simple, actually.  Just stop spending money.  Period.

 

And to actually reduce inflation, Biden and his Congressional thieves need only fill 2,600,000,000,000 Band Aid boxes before stealing another penny from U.S. citizens.