Physical Exhaustion

I'm there, now - at least, for ttoday.

I've been rehabbing a shoulder with a rotator cuff injury. PT is not exactly a walk in the park. And, today, it is worse, as I - somehow - forgot to take my meds this morning.

I just remembered, and found them (tucked into the pocket of my jacket - so I wouldn't forget to take them!). It will be several hours before they have full effect. So, after I finish this post, I'm going to lie down for a rest (not tired, just sore).

I'm also a little dehydrated, so I'm guzzling water now, and took the time to put some bottles into the fridge for later. 

I didn't do that much this morning - physical therapy, stopped at Home Depot for some bags of soil, stopped at dollar for some styro cups (they make good containers for starting seeds/cuttings). I didn't even unload the car yet.

And, yet, I'm exhausted. I feel as though I'd been on a 5 mile hike, with backpack (which I haven't done in decades). It's not how hard the exertion is, it's that I'm so de-conditioned, I have to build in breaks for any physical work. LOTS of breaks.

I'm going to continue my efforts. Even if a task takes me longer, and wears me out, it's still better than lounging around on a swooning couch, and accepting frailty. Others - cancer survivors, heart attack patients, stroke victims - have been far more stricken, and managed to fight their way back.

I can too.

Have I Done a Rip Winkle?

Because, I seem to be reliving the past:

• The 50s - The 'housedress' is back. I blame the sloth of the last couple of years, along with a realistic appraisal that, no, my butt IS too big for Jeggings. Whatever the reason, and despite relentless pressure by the fashion industry to push sky-high heels and structured undergarments, Loose and Comfy is IN!
• The 60s - Day-time drinking by stay-at-homes, women choosing to leave the workforce after marriage/kids, a BoHo Return to the Breast (it's a desperation move, but, trust me, it will become a trend), and waistless dresses and eccentric shoes.
• The 70s - my Least Favorite Decade, despite it being the time when I was young, in love, and probably at my peak, appearance-wise. The decade was ruined by Inflation, rising home prices, home budgets that were destroyed by rising food prices, and, yes, a Return to Energy Shortages - home, work, agricultural, and vehicle.
• The 80s - international war posturing, involvement in every little war/incident occuring in other countries, threatened famine overseas, and rising Islamicist feints/uprisings (although, it's hard to find a decade when the Star & Crescent People aren't on the virge of Going Gonzo). Sweetheart deals with favored corporations. Use of government to shut down competitors.
• The 90s - Media championing and covering for Dems of The Left. Use of NGOs and Deep State to smear opponents of the Official Left Line. Throwing the Whole Kitchen Sink at your enemies, including using "peaceful protesters" to intimidate them.

Too depressing for words.

Setting Up an Alternative Cyber-Structure

 Given the continued efforts of The Left to censor and squash any attempts to go around the Official Truth, we may have to begin looking at our own American Samizdat for the Non-Compliant.

Some already exist. Vox Popoli has long had his by-subscription-only, paid alternative to social media, YouTube, Amazon, and Wikipedia. There are others.

For most of us, using the ‘free’ services is easier and cheaper than selecting the paid services. But, it has been - truly, I think - that if you get something for ‘free’, then YOU are the product. Your information, their control.

I'll be posting more on this in the future. Feel free to add other Alt-Cyber-Structures to the comments.

Something New for Me

I've been keeping an eye on compaign promises and arguments for and against public debt. That's aside from my natural inclination not to take on debt without a MAJOR reason for it - invasive war, terrorism (actual, not that "The MAGA People are revolting!"), or major crisis.

Like personal debt. You don't spend money you haven't got for a new TV - that's a luxury. But, a generator, in an area known for weather-related power outages? Sure.

Likewise, to take on educational debt CAN be good. We were broke when I returned to college after having kids, and the grant money it brought in helped keep us afloat. I focused on a plan of study that might pay off, eventually. For that reason, I became a teacher (History and Science - I already had almost all of the credits), and - when the History openings were sparse, focused on teaching Science.

I taught more than 25 years, in all. The pay wasn't that great at the start, but it got steadily better, and by the time I retired, I was making over $60K a year. And the majority of the cost of my Master's was paid for by programs designed to produce Science teachers.

Could I have made more money? Sure. However, if you teach in a subject with teacher shortages (Science, Math, Special Ed), you're pretty much bullet-proof. VERY hard to replace - worse than a winning football coach. I did NOT fear layoffs or campaigns to get rid of me.

Even if a school system did have to downsize, there would still be jobs a-plenty.

But, debt to major in Gender Studies? Or Ethnic Studies? Or Psychology?

Hell, no.

Ya' see, most of us in America are Saturday's Child - the one that "Has to work for a living". We haven't rich relatives who will pass on their money and property to us. If our parents have any, it will have to be divided among siblings and spouses, AFTER all debts, including the Taxman, are paid.

For most people, it's enough to bury the deceased, and clear a few thousand. On the average, around $46K. But, don't forget, that has to be divided among those left. If you came from a large family, that is more likely $10,000 to $15,000 apiece.

And, it's a TAXABLE inheritance to the beneficiaries.

I received around $9K when my Dad died. I put it into retirement savings (we've not had to tap into it yet, other than the Required Minimum Distribution - which we sent straight to charities, avoiding taxes and getting a nice deduction). 

Our kids MAY do better - or not, should we have expensive illnesses. Who knows?

But, generally, it's a wise decision to avoid debt - both personal and public. Emergencies do happen. Failure to plan ahead is not an emergency.

We need to handle our public debt in several ways:

• Stop adding programs to disburse more money to those who didn't earn it - it's welfare by another name. Any program that absolutely HAS to be added, cannot take effect until another programs is killed that will provide that money. (Watch the movie Dave for a funny example of cutting through the verbiage to make some cuts).
• Forbid the Fed from printing more money. It's Magical Thinking to keep doing so, rather like when my eldest daughter responded to my saying I hadn't the money to buy an expensive item she desperately desired, "Why don't you just write a check? You have a bunch of them!" Responsible CITIZENS are supposed to be frugal with Other People's Money.
• Clamp down on Fraud and Waste. In ALL programs.
• Military
• ALL equipment contracts will be held to budget. NO changes allowed after the contract is awarded. If the provider doesn't structure their bid correctly, they will go broke. NO bids on the basis of "Cost Plus". 
• Any change in field equipment must be tested by average soldiers in the field for extended periods of time. Their reports will be the ones that are used in the final decision. For that matter, let the guys that will USE the equipment vote on what to buy. It's their life on the line. On the average, they're quite a bit smarter than the average citizen.
• Inventory - find out what, and where, the military has equipment - and what condition it's in. Let that search be led by the guys at the enlisted level - they know what is useful, can be used for trade for a more needed item, and who's Bogarting a warehouse full of expensive stuff. Use RFID tags, cameras, and sensors to reduce the "Midnight Requisitions". Send those responsible - either directly or indirectly, through looking the other way - to HARD time.
• Streamline the military occupations. Reduce paperwork requirements (bring in some guys from private industry to show the military how to do it). Look around and see who is causing trouble or sitting around generating reports and PR - dump those classifications. If the newly-unoccupied person can't find a useful place to land, RIF them.
• Entitlements
• Unemployment - reduce the amount coming from the Feds. Start billing those states that have unreported Fraud, and charge those responsible with a CRIME (jail time is not absolutely necessary, beyond a month or so, but they need to have a FELONY on their record, and completely loss of voting rights for at least 10 years). Gradually reduce the Fed share, and shoot for complete relinquishment of any responsibility within 10 years.
• Welfare - Family Aid AND SSI. 
• First, start weeding out Fraud. Start with non-existent people, non-citizens, and those in jail. The agencies will not be responsible for paying the money back, PROVIDED they identify the person(s) that enabled the original enrollment. Again, prosecute them, but settle for a FELONY on their record, and loss of voting rights.
• Hit the larger cities, and swoop in for audits at the agency locations that sign up the most people. Get the Welfare lists, and send people out to physically verify that:
• The person actually exists.
• They live there (and, the number of persons living there is physically possible).
• They are entitled.
• I'd start with EBT. That's the entrance point for much of the fraud. Those that manage to get it are automatically enrolled in other programs. Also, that's where much of the fraud happens - stolen cards/sold cards, claiming people that are not eligible, double-claiming, etc.
• Any NGO that is signing up ineligible people loses their non-profit status. Anyone whose name is on the paperwork is prosecuted, AND billed for the money. Turning state's evidence may save them jail time, but the felony stays on their record, AND they lose voting rights.
• Use bounty hunters and cyber-hunters judiciously. We've got quite a lot of tech people who were put out of work due to foreign workers. Put them to work, under contract, looking for anomalies that will open investigative possibilities. Give them bonuses for their work.

A big part of enabling the cash grabs has been the rush to get people on the voting rolls, legally present or not. Some of the new voters actually exist, but many are fake.

Weeding them out should be relatively easy. Offer the states SOME of the money they are losing through this reduction in Federal Budget, by tying that to making their voting rolls able to be accessed by location. Every voter should be able to be shown on a printable map, that can be used by groups. Those groups can go out to the physical locations where multiple people seem to be in an impossibly small residence, and target those registrations for verification. Also, check to see that the residence still exists.

Next, in college towns, cross-check to make sure that the student is not also registered in their home state. Send proof that they are double-registered, and make them choose ONE place. How to find out their home state? Check social media.

Retirement havens, do the same. Find out where the people came from, if they still own a home there or visit family part of the year, and check to make sure that they don't abuse the opportunity to double-vote. Again, social media will have much of this information.

This would be easier if the standard was to NOT accept a voter registration, without FIRST checking that they were not still registered at their prior address. Within a state, a piece of cake. Even external to a state shouldn't be all that much work.

For so-called homeless, a social security designation should be on EVERY registration, not just birthdate. Cross-checks should be made to disenroll any that slip through.

At the Federal Level, modify the Motor Voter law, to require proof that the person registering is a citizen. Make it a felony to avoid checking.

A project that could occupy some eager students is the Death Checklist. Using obituary information, make sure that the person's name is taken off the voters lists. Proof of death could be made available easily.

All of the above voter actions should start in the largest cities. The larger population makes mistakes, errors, and outright chicanery easier.

Crime at 1 First Street!

OMZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (See all those Exclamation Points? It means that this is VERY serious!)

A Crime has been committed at the Supreme Court!

But, don't worry - Chief Justice John Roberts is on TOP of it!

He's taking the extreme step of putting that crack investigative force - The MARSHAL of the Supreme Court - on the job of tracking down that criminal!

Now, the SC Marshalls are NOT like the US Marshals, who were depicted in The Fugitive and that Wesley Snipes movie (both  of which starred Tommy Lee Jones, and were really worth watching, if you like that action genre).

No, these guys are more like the bailiffs in regular court - here are their duties. They really have no investigative function.

Yes, it does sound like Roberts is desperately trying to bury this crime, and, after a brief period, declare that it's just a mystery who might have been responsible for it (cough, cough - Sotomayor, and/or her staff).

But, the Left will (once again) issue their 'Not Proven' defence to allegations of Leftist guilt for the crime. We get it. If you:

• Refuse to investigate
• Denigrate all witnesses as being partisan liars
• Stall on pressing charges
• Leak any evidence to the media, along with talking points that downplay its validity/importance
• If witnesses show signs of being inconveniently insistent on testifying
  
• "Subtly" inform them they are being watched
• Send photos of their children to their home, with the unspoken threat that Bad Things Just MAY Happen to Them
• Start a campaign to get the breadwinner(s) fired, and un-hireable in future jobs
• There is always the classic Dead Cat on the Doorstep tactic
• If all else fails, the perp should develop an inconvenient memory of the act, plead pyschiatric vulnerability, and throw down the Race/Sex Card. At that point, with a "I don't really remember doing it, but I will take responsibility" deal and a cooperative prosecutor and a compliant judge, it will all disappear.

All that gives their Spin Doctors room to claim a Vast Right-Wing/Nazi/Fascist Conspiracy is working against them, fabricating crimes, and making a BFD out of Absolutely Nothing.

And, they will walk away, no jail time or icky felony conviction, secure in the knowledge that the scheme worked.

And, BTW, still sniffling that WOMYN are being denied on of the Basic Human Rights!!!

[Forgive the exclamation points and CAPS - there really is no other way to convey the hysterical, over-the-top screaming of the Left's Womyn]

Why is Inflation Increasing So Fast?

I mean, OTHER than the EVIL Capitalists taking advantage of the Downtrodden Masses.

I'm kidding. The inflationary pressure starts with government spending and increasing the money supply. That leads to prices rising, which leads to calls for wage increases, which leads to prices rising higher...

Other than the government over-spending, which happens because they want to use money forced from taxpayers to buy votes for their lame candidates, the cycle is one that, once set in motion, can only be stopped by very painful choices.

Like reducing government spending. And, cutting government jobs. And, cutting government services. The last two are necessary, should you want to reduce spending.

The answer is not to impose another tax. The bare majority, who pay the taxes, don't have it. And, the mega-rich are strange - they use their money and power over government officials to make sure that any tax increases don't affect THEIR money.

Huh.

Wonder why that happens? You would THINK that, given how much the mega-rich exhort all of the taxpayers to "pay their fair share", they would be thrilled to open their own wallets.

But, no. for some strange reason, they don't think it necessary to add their own dollars to the effort.

Anyway, check out the above link for a very nice explanation of the inflation cycle, and how it affect me and you.

Why People Continue to Post Disinfo

Despite all your efforts, your "Gentle Suggestions" that - perhaps - they might want to check their 'facts' before posting, and the reality that 'those people' - those poor, deluded, simple people who have clearly come under the sway of Trump and all those other Nazis (it's really a pity how other people - perhaps not as smart as you - fall for the propaganda and misinformation).

But you persevere. You ask them to cite their sources. Of course, THEIR sources, even if official government sources, cannot be accepted. You return the posting of those links with a dismissive wave, refusing to actually LOOK at them. If they aren't one of the Big Media pundits, they simply Do Not Count.

I've tried to find sources that the Left will accept - Washington Post? New York Times? Science periodicals? Wall Street Journal? Local, generally respected  newspapers?

ALL have been rejected.

I mean, even the freakin' New York Times has admitted that the whole story of Russian interference in the 2020 election was completely made up. BTW, the link is to Legal Insurrection, a blog written by some law professors. The NYT article admitting that the Biden laptop was not 'hacked' and is authentic, is behind a paywall. Because of that, many of the skeptics will roll their eyes and refuse to accept that, yes, the NYT DID admit their shoddy, and partisan, reporting.

But, the I'm-Smarter-and-less-inclined-to-believe-in-propaganda-than-you crowd depends on the FB Official Boxed Leftist-Message-Supporting Blockage of Dissent to sooth their nerves. God Forbid that they have to actually investigate the official stories! So much easier to pass along the smarmy memes from the DNC, Hillary-Clinton-Diehards, and Progressives-4Eva Meme Machines.

Here was the original graphic that prompted this:

Now, am I suggesting that EVERY one of the invaders is a fake? No. But, a sizable percentage of them are. And, the fact that they arrive, not bedraggled, toting food and blankets, extra clothes, and other items that would be reasonable for travelers, but daisy fresh and sporting fresh-from-the-box shirts with Progressive slogans - well, it just doesn't seem to be an organice occurrence.

Heck, when I have to get a family trip together, I'm a lot less organized. My kids are drooping, I'm walking like I can't take another step, and I am surrounded by the detritus of my journey.

I also don't CONVENIENTLY arrive sans ID, passport, or proof that I am who I claim to be. The word has apparently passed - ditch all ID, and the dummies at the US border will HAVE to admit you. If they question you, act indignant and accuse them of discrimination against People of Color!

So, what is the defining response to my post?

With the comment "My job is done".

Well, no, it's not. All you have 'proven' is that the Scolds on FB will reject any opposition to their Way of Life.

That's not a real response.

So, why do I continue to post?

Because some of the memes are just funny. They point out that the Left's Official Message is illogical, not based on evidence, and likely with an underlying agenda.

Some of them allow me to express my frustration with the Officially Acceptable State of the Union. That the concerns of Americans are brushed off as Racism, Homophobia, Propaganda, Fascism, Sexism, ad infinitum. For people who complain that their ideological enemies engage in mindless regurgitation of pre-digested mis-info, they sure do seem to have the market on that cornered.

Some are pithy reminders that, no, all do NOT accept the characterization of aggressive recruitment of minors into the "I'm REALLY a Girl!" Magical Transformation Cult. The people who are at risk are KIDS. They are being encouraged to take life-altering steps before society permits them to:

• Pierce their ears or get a permanent tatoo
• Take responsibility for their actions as an adult
• Drive
• Vote

The same people who don't think kids that age should be responsible for raising a kid, have no issue with medically tampering with the genotalia that make the process possible.

If kids are "transitioned" too early, they may lose any capability of having adult sex - their genitals will be too small and malformed to allow them to fully participate in sexual activity.

They will be sterilized.

They will be short (I'm short, and it's no picnic. Aside from the inconvenience of needing stepstools, diminuitive people are at high risk of bone fractures, osteoporosis, and other problems). For those female and planning to "become" men, the societal prejudice against short people is high. No amount of hormonal additions will change their stature.

This will all come at a high medical and emotional cost.