MORNING
I overdid it this Xmas, financially I mean. What else would I mean, huh? But not as bad as most people, since I didn't spend what I don't have. Here are the gasoline readings per the trip to Miami for myself and the party before me. I would describe the public mood this time around as cautious. The scooter passed 9,300 miles but how else can I travel to Coral Estates and back for less than a sawbuck? The scooter gets a true 66.54 mpg and I distrust any claims of cars getting even half of that. Those stats are outright lying and that is that.
Ka-boom, I get broadsided with questions about who exactly is my girlfriend. Answer: I don’t have a girlfriend and I am not looking for one. I am looking for a gal to spend the rest of my life with. When I say someone can’t sing and dance it means they are not the one for me, and Estelle is fully aware of that. She is good company, but let’s take a closer look. The message here is that enjoying good company is not the same as providing good company.We all like a little excitement. Think for a moment. The clubs, the motorcycle trips, the restaurants, the beach, the live music, the libraries, the shopping, the drinks on a holiday, Sunday brunch, never a dull moment. You get to meet accomplished people, entertainers, business owners, musicians, even robot builders. And in return, I get, well, let's see, what do I get? Good company? As par usual, every last one of the events just mentioned were incited by me at my own expense. To be fair, Estelle did once show me some pictures of her grandchildren. Ask yourself what I have around here that is as thrilling as pictures of grandchildren, how can I compete with that? I'm waiting.
NOON
JZ and I made plans for 2013. This photo of us at the Marhaba makes us look like a couple of aging Mafia dons congratulating each other’s success. For acting the part, we might not be too far off the mark. During the upcoming year we will represent still rising but formidable purchasing power and can be expected to make a move or two. We can’t afford to miss another opportunity like the apartment behind Guitar Center. However, at this stage anything we even look at would be dependent on financing, which I am loathe to do.
Shown here we are discussing the issue of down payments versus buying cash. If you know what to look for you’ll see two men who are hardly worried about the future. This, ladies, is what confidence looks like. Go ahead, take a second look. I'm certain some of you missed it. At the same meeting we decided a break is due. A chance to get out of town, see some new things, chase women in another part of the country. We agreed to use the first possible business-related excuse to justify the trip, so watch for that.Here’s a twist. It was not bad enough that the credit card clowns didn’t spend anything like the oodles predicted for Xmas, but the consumer reports out just one day after are finally accomplishing something useful. They are shocking the hell out of people concerning the depth and extent to which every last move they make is being recorded and analyzed in real time. If they admit knowing sales data to the tenth of a decimal point, trust me, they also know your identity. Question: if any of this snooping was done for your own good, why are they doing it behind your back and without permission?
EVENING
How about the new British law that amasses all electronic data on every person who leaves the country? Before, it was only people traveling to the USA, now it is everybody. You can look it up yourself, but there are plenty of reliable sources that show how the exact same system can be used to monitor every bus depot, train station, and ferry boat in the USA. A government computer to do it all is being built “in the desert”.
I point out that while this loss of freedom and privacy is appalling to Americans, we are unique among the first world nations in having the freedoms in the first place. (First world means North America, Argentina, Australia, Japan, and western Europe.) Most countries never had such freedoms to begin with and that is why they are not losing them or complaining much. You’ll rarely hear a Swede or a Canadian complain about losing his privacy because he never had any to begin with. And both those countries are committing immigration suicide.
The US agencies that enforce national security are domestic organizations, an often-overlooked factoid. Their entire purpose is directed toward our own citizens, that is, they are a type of police force. This means it should be asked why such forces are buying armored cars, machine guns, spy drones, and in case you didn’t know, they ordered 460,000,000 rounds of hollow point ammunition this last year. That is called stockpiling.
For the benefit of non-NRA types like myself I will elaborate. The average annual order is 19,000,000 bullets. Hollow point ammo is not used for target practice, as the authorities claim. It is far too expensive for that. Rather, these are your “dum-dum” bullets that are designed to expand when hitting flesh, so they can’t used for hunting either. Conclusion? Federal money is being used to militarize our civilian police forces. This year a squad car shows up, next year, a tank with a battering ram. Civilians with military weapons always learn to over-react.
Only in America is this newsworthy. Cradle to grave surveillance is already commonplace in most countries. You can soon expect to be frisked at the airport by agents carrying machine pistols instead of hand cuffs. Nobody bats an eyelash seeing Israeli traffic cops, lifeguards, bus drivers, and teenage inductees waltzing down the avenue with a machine pistol slung over one shoulder.
ADDENDUM
Philosophy. I believe there is at the very, very least some factual basis behind all stereotypes, and often it is a “majority rules” basis as well. It is quite dumb to point out exceptions to any stereotype, because there is a reason they are called exceptions. Are those groups with a negative stereotype totally blameless? Because if they are even the slightest responsible for their own public image, then stereotyping becomes just another social tool, and a useful one at that. (It incentivizes people to assimilate for their own good.)
We are not blasted by daily propaganda that Christians are liars, Jews are greedy, and Muslims are terrorists. In fact, in most cases the media avoids the whole truth. Most people develop impressions by drawing conclusions over much longer periods of time. To say prejudice constitutes the only possible reason one doesn’t like another race or culture is being shallow-minded. There are as many different reasons as there are people for not liking something.
Example. I know I have definite reasons for most of my dislikes and in every case I can recall, I set out neutral on the point. But today I could point out the reasons I don't like Cubans to anyone with an open mind who would listen. I never disliked Cubans until I lived in Miami, they earned it fair and square with their attitudes and bad behavior. They worked hard for the reputation I give them. Don't blame me, Cubans have the reputation they deserve.
bike;caffe; bistro; pvc pipe bed; pvc tent for blasting; booth jukebox mp3 player table top; boxer shorts in public photos; fantastic ancient machines; resistor color chart; sidecar; xmas; simple pvc inventions; andrea johnson; st augustine; bike; caffe; bottle caps; candy box; braille bible; juice newton; palm triangular; percocet; nose damage; piles of money; pvc pipe bed;
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