DEAR Olympic Committe and WHO, got 3 words for you. And then a bunch more...

OK.  First, three words; D D T

I am not prepared to debate the ills of using a little of the stuff once in awhile.  Seriously, saving some human lives and pain is not a bad thing.  Sometimes you have to weight things out.  And here is where we run into trouble.

There seem to be varying and competing ideas of what things weigh.  Some see the value of a one celled organism as more valuable than human life.  Certainly many value mink, polar bears, or minnows more than humans.  Not that there really ought to be so many of these issues.  Lunatics always seem to spearhead these little warring factions.

I thought I would look at Drudge incase I could figure out what some facebook picture was about.  I avoid a lot of news so I am often behind on the trivia.  This thing touted a rally in which a hundred thousand bikers showed up and heard Trump and no one made trouble, fought, beat up cops or horses.

Was it a real thing?  Or imagined?  Or maybe only half true?  We just don't know.

But what struck me was a headline claiming the now famous dead gorilla was really just protecting the boy at the zoo.  So I hit the link to the story which contain the alleged video proof.  What nonsense!

I watched the video and the gorilla dragged the kid suddenly and unbelievably rapidly through the shallow water.  Nothing even slightly gentle about that.  It was freaky.  I do feel, from the background hysteria and nonsense that maybe they should have capped Mom first.  But this outrage is insane, giving existing circumstances.

 Of course you can't have a zoo without really working to maintain any idiot-proof features you can dream up.  No way you can depend upon people to manage themselves or their children.  Most people are OK, but plenty are worthless and screw things up one way or another wherever they go.

Why the blatant lie and misrepresentation by Drudge and the Daily Mirror, I have no idea.  But that is really bad.  How can you watch the video and believe it shows the kid was safe?  They have such a low opinion of people that they think they can let you see proof that they are lying but that you will think the opposite because that is what told you to think.

And really, Olympic people, forget all this nonsense trying to be politically obnoxious. Just do summer games in Sydney and maybe alternate with whatever Canada wants to do.  And Winter Olympics should always be in Norway and, I would say France, but they have too many lunatic muslims running amok.  Maybe Canada somewhere for that too.  Or some small but not insane country I cannot right now draw to mind.  But no USA, no China or other totalitarian regime, and no place like Brazil that is overrun with riffraff and mosquitoes.

It is stupid to give it to places that cannot pull it off.  But I hate olympics in the US any more. Just asking for trouble in present environment.   Most of Europe is the same way as far as being too vulnerable through fruits of their own pretense and stupidity to reasonably and prudently host the Games.

Texas Ranch-Style Wedding; best ever

I was a groomsman.  What a blast.  This Valor and Lace experience is really helping me pull out of near hopeless feeling blues.  Depression, I guess.

The Holy man somehow cued Chris to repeat the first bit, but it was Emily's line.  He bagan asking himself to be blablabla

Anyway, when I am around this bunch and included in things like their wedding, it makes me feel like my life is probably worth living, and actually enjoying.  I have trouble with that, I confess.

I am the guy with the white shirt, black hat, and cowboy boots.

This band is like a family in a way that few are.   I cannot explain it.  Clearly, I have a lovely family.  I am not one who thinks I want to substitute or discount blood and all that.  But this is still family. Most people have that sort of thing in some way in their lives.

**The rest of us backed another guy who sang some songs, and people danced like crazy.  Emily is a superb dancer.  It is like a real expression of joy with her.  Country and western people do line dancing and such too.  I think because you don't have to deal with a particular partner if you don't want.  

This is the whole group.  Richard on resonator, JRod on bass, Chris, Emily, and the harmonica player. 

Chris' charisma is really amazing.  Women like him, and even seem like the fact that he is all Emily.  And guys like him.  He was a badass scout sniper in Afghanistan.  And almost got blown up. Like most musicians other than myself, his hearing is a little screwy.  That's why the in-ear monitors he and Emily use made so much different.  When he can hear, he is not pitchy, and it is good.  I have never seen anyone make such progress vocally and instrumentally in such a short time. 

They'll be heading to Texas, north of Austin, Georgetown - Weir vicinity.   Richard resonator too.
If I  can figure a way to slit time, between states, that would be ideal.  That would require some effort and change everything, make more money and find some way to get healthier.

I met a guy who uses cbd oil and has had huge success in combating Mesothelioma.   Upon diagnosis, he was thought to have less than a year to live.  It has been over six and you would never know he had issues.  They don't just ignore the medical world, but his wife took a lot of this into her own hands, so a combination of cannabis oils containing various thc to cbd ratios and such has really made a difference.  Food for thought.

Under certain circumstances, these measures can be a Godsend to a person suffering.  That is not BS as you may have heard.

So I really liked all the Texans there.  Not that many there, but it was great.  I'm glad I have family living there now, both native Texans and transplants.  If only the Seattle nephew wasn't seriously allergic to Austin.  We have yet to pin it down.  It is his excuse to his brother for not moving. Besides they love Seattle.  Another story.  I love Seattle, too.

It is very flattering to have been asked to be in this wedding.  That is a very significant gesture, coming from Emily and Chris.   The type of loyalty involved with this group is not like people who grew up in Miami usually encounter.  Not with my group.  Heartbreaking in a way.

So, this band is getting better, and we made a big splash up the coast on Friday.

So the kid I gave my spare Suzuki Manji to has been listening to all kinds of harmonica and blues stuff, trying to master certain sounds or licks.  I heard he was holding court with it at recess at school, playing whatever he has learned to play and his mom says he was a big hit with the kids.  She implied the lick mastery was more in is head than real.  I get that.

That kid will be a monster by the time he is 12.  I better learn his name.

So, I have been a bit torn.  I have my interest in playing with Enter the Blue Sky as well.  I think they have very different markets. It is just my niche that I work well with both.  I do not see any of the other players of either group playing with the other.

I would love to have the fluidity of movement to work with both bands and particularly figure a good marketing strategy for Sande and ETBS.   Chris and Emily are doing better at moving Valor and Lace along than I ever could.  It is a very different deal.

Also, I don't know that I can stop the subtle self defeating strategy that I feel ETBS(enter the blue sky) sometimes employs.  Right now, I do not have enough energy to figure out how to make her material bring money and implement a plan.  But, I guess I can be a critic.  Sometimes critics are right.

The thing is, I developed somewhat of a different style by playing with Sande, and it is a good thing.  So, I will play.  I enjoy it, just not when we play venues I hate.  For little or absolutely nothing.

Chris and Richard, his wife, Sharon, and Emily all say I am coming to Texas soon enough.  If I can find the right things to keep me going, plus playing with Chris and them, I will do it.  I want to be nearer family, but not when I am isolated, useless, and down on myself.  I have to approve of what I am doing rather than waste away.  If I am near them, I have to be better.  Just how it is, Plus there are little kids there.  Have to always up the game.  The deal of being an example of what not to do is pure bunk and garbage.  Show kids what you want for them and from them, not the opposite.  It is how the mind works.  Although an electric shock when they don't comply is perfectly good practice, if you want results.

So, if you are the one, go ahead and marry me now. Let's just resign ourselves to such fate.  But you must be perfect for me.  Whatever that would be.  Probably pleasant enough and don't find me annoying.

Memorial Weekend

Valor and Lace--the country band with the ex marines and Emily, and JRod--and with me---played Laguna Hills today.
Holy smoke.  What a cool event.

This neighborhood, or maybe the town adopted the Team Dark Horse, 3rd battalion, 5th Marines.  They did adopt them with the purpose of helping them out in various ways.  The houses around the park/ranch where the event took place were like small high end hotels.  You could fit a village in just one house.  Maybe just one of their multi car garages.

And then you were lucky if there was 10 feet between dwellings.  Weird.  These were very high end dwellings.  I prefer a little more rustic.  Rustic is forgiving.  If I do something clumsy,  most likely nothing will be damaged.  Whether it is wipe up a spill or whatever else might fit that bill.

Great outdoor event, lights on towers, nice stage.  We were one of four groups.  With the lights all you could see from the stage was the spotlights and the blue lights up and down the light towers out in front of us.  All else was a sea of black.  I could not see the people.  But I could hear them.

People like this bunch.  Richard the resonator player saw whatever it is with these two first.  Chris was the Marine and went through a music therapy program they started for PTSD, and I think he got off all the meds they were feeding him.  His mother a sister were in from TX for this and he and Em getting married on Sunday.  And I am in it. Along for the ride.  These people are having an impact on me.

That may be good.  I always enjoy being alive when I am around them.  Strange. but good

Demonstrators? Of what?

Media and others tend to call people "demonstrators", and even preface it with the word "peaceful", when they are anything but.  I have no idea why they would be called demonstrator, except the word "demon" is contained within.  What is being demonstrated?

I never did get that.  Protester, I guess.  It makes sense.  But again, what is being called peaceful protesting is nothing but thuggery and sadistic violence to make sickos feel happy.

All I am saying is, if you don't like what Trump has to say, don't go to the rallies, and instead voice your views wherever you do such things.  But you go out there and hurt horses?   And their riders?  I don't care if they are cops.  You are so far over the line, you are lucky to be alive.  If they don't get you, someone like me could end up doing it. I would make you apologize to the horse and rider.  And groom their horses every day for six months.  That is after you pay any money you have to defray medical expenses and property damage caused by you and your bully friends.

If you think it is OK to silence Trump through violence, then, in principle, you are saying it is OK for the government to silence you with guns and such.  You never know when you may fail to be in proper alignment with viewpoint of those calling the shots.

This is not about Trump.  This is about people who twist the victim label around using it as an excuse to commit any violence and lack of reasoning they see fit.  And as prone to violence and hatred as those people are, violence is what they love.   It is kind of low to throw rocks at police, when they don't want to be there but they have to because thugs decide to congregate, hoping to intimidate people out of their freedom of assembly and speech.

I hate mob violence and the mentality of those who have to hang in a pack or a herd.

The New Me, yippee kie yay, lil' dawggies

I already uploaded this pic on facebook. It is a bootleg shot from Blazing Saddles.  Slim Pickens watching Alex Kerras(?) combust due to a bean issue.  I believe that is correct.

Whatever the deal, now that I have cowboy boots, and a white cowboy shirt with snaps, and a black cowboy hat for Chris' and Emily's wedding this weekend, I am changing my name to Slim Belmondo.

But this Friday, we go up the coast to play at a huge veteran memorial day event.  They have other groups, three of them.  They are of a different nature than this group, Valor and Lace.  The wedding is Sunday in this neck of the woods.  See, I talk like a cowboy now.  Boy, howdy, them dawggies.

Now that Richard Resonator is back and sometimes J-Rod plays bass for us, it is really taking shape.  Chris and Em are young 30's and exceptionally good looking in a likable, approachable way.  And they are heavy duty Texas swamp country.  It is getting swampier with what Richard and I do.  Resonator is generic word for Dobro.  The latter is apparently a brand or something. like Coke.

I heard a recording Chris did through the board at our last practice in Em's garage.  It sounded way better than I thought.  Also people are highly attracted to them.  Richard and I help them sound good. But the persona that seems to attract people is that thing they have going.  I cannot tell you why, but every time I am around them, I leave feeling more optimistic and about life, more confident, less negative.

The four of us went to Boot Barn to get stuff to wear at their wedding.  It is a bit of a western-casual affair.  They did not want people to feel like they had to go overboard who are in the wedding.  I am in it.  Richard is best man which is way cool.  He's 70.  Chris is maybe 33.  Of course both had a stint in the Marines in entirely different eras under different conditions, but with much the same scars.  They deal with it better and quicker now in most ways.

So, we were there 2 1/2 hours.  Various reasons, but it was fun the whole time.  And Emily did all the brain work and else.  She found stuff we couldn't.  Really an amazingly capable and high energy person.  I could see her running a large corporation, juggling a hundred things at one time and staying on top of all. I guess most women I know are exceptional in ways like that.

It was clear today that we were quite willing to let her be the brains and also decide yay or nay.

I got some spiffy cowboy stuff now.  I'm going to be tipping my black hat to the pretty girls, "Ma'am. All I'm askin' is eight seconds.  Whataya say?"

Tune up!! Or the harp player gets it!!!

Now I am a cowboy.  I do believe my country music friends are likely to catch on.  I have watched how audiences want to like them. They want to like their music before they hear it.  And now it is good, so they don't have to try to hard to like it.

I am in two bands.  After what the other did in the studio, and how the country one is doing, I am pushing both to apply for South by Southwest in Austin.  It is a huge deal and means something big to get invited.  What if both made it?

So I Benefit the Most

When it comes to healthcare, I do not think I can force trained professionals to serve me, or save me. Believe me, even when they are trying, they are not always very sharp.  Sometimes.

So, the country has been all into the healthcare thing; Obamacare, et al.   It is like a ball of yarn assembled by a cat.

I listen to people whose deductibles went north, whose premiums and coverage are less favorable, etc.  And I know people who have to go to the primary in order to do anything and they get caught in various catch-22's.  The HMO system creates much of what it was supposed to eliminate.  It is a bureaucratic misanthropic construct.  And it is sold to the public as the opposite of its reality.

But in my case, any poorer and I would be screwed.  Any wealthier and I would be screwed.  A whole lot wealthier and it wouldn't matter.   That tells me that my mind is thinking that it is not even worth the effort unless you are going to be a big whole lot wealthier.   Just some wealthier is not worth it.  Not my idea.  Indirectly, IT'S THE LAW !!!

The brings me to an aside.  I remember posters and such put out to indoctrinate the public during the 55 mph phase.  Maybe it is just me, but some posters and slogans put out by government agencies, whether irs, police, blm, or other,  are ridiculous, insulting and moronic.  Not to mention heavy handed.

The one I am thinking of was in a DMV office in Albemarle, NC or somewhere like that.
It had some graphic of a cop car or something scary, and it just said, 55, Not only a good idea, IT'S THE LAW!  Just seemed odd, as if they are saying, "Yes, 'good idea' and 'law' are not necessarily coexistent entities."  And I'd thank you for your candor.

That is neither here nor there.   The real point is my good fortune amid an overall history of odd fortune.  I hesitate to call it bad, or good.  But odd comes without caveat or hesitation.

Be happy.  It looks like I will pay more than I am using this year.  Last year you took most of the hit.  Not all,  by any means.  Now that I look at it.   But that is how things work.

If this keeps up, good news.  Things are always in flux.  When that is a good thing, I don't know.

Way Behind the Times

Not the NY Times.   Just the general pop culture of busybody statists.  The idea of a draft, which gives a pick of happy hippy work or military is not a form of involuntary servitude.  It is just compulsory volunteer service.  

I actually read an article which explained Stewart's plan as different than the old fashioned draft because you could do public service things as dictated by the bureau in charge of such things.  It said everyone would be "required to do volunteer service' for the public good, or some such noble cause.

The meaning of the word "rights" was clouded, diluted and obliterated some time ago.  Now we see the word slave and volunteer being interchanged.

Really Small Minded Power Thing

That is my view.

I remember when the news had big things on raising the driving age to 18 in FL, back in my Miami youth.  They always had student government slime from whatever high school to speak in support of raising the age.  They were seniors, either already 18 or soon to be.  What kiss-up sell-outs.

Just like Jon Stewart, wanting to place obligations, from which he is exempt, on others.  He did not have such intrusion of the state controlling his choices at 18.  That sort of hypocrisy is typical of almost anything political in this country and maybe world.  I am certainly not one of those who believes our system is inferior to the more state heavy systems of much of the world.  Our laws have been broken by those sworn to uphold them.  The siren call of alleged pragmatists often overrides farsighted moral considerations.

Government hijacked by thugs long ago.  No telling how far back it goes.  But it is a crime syndicate sort of outfit.

That bit of "everyone ought to have to (do this or that)", never set well with me.  People should not owe their lives to the state to do with it as it chooses--even if only for a year or two.  Maybe there won't be a bunch of people getting killed in a stupid excursion.  Everyone will robotically thank you for your service.  You will either feel wonderful to be thanked for being forced to serve the state, or you will grow to despise the empty unqualified nature of their gratitude.  How do they know what you did or if they are glad of it?

Yea, I guess I must be wrong.  Most have no idea what to do anyway, so a couple of years being the state's bitch can't hurt. Pays pocket change and room and board.  Maybe even exposure to gender variations new to the planet.

Drafting girls could be so cool.  Since most seem unaware of Vietnam, or much else, how about we draft for a cool war like that?  This could be absolutely wonderful.  Another psychotic generation can rebel against the other lunatics controlling them.  Maybe have a summer of love which is really lots of sex and being high in preparation for the decade of greed these same altruists created soon as they could.

Justy when I thought no one could be bigger idiots than baby boomers, a new crop has backed women into the draft-me-for-any-ridiculous war corner.  Can't say a damned thing. Out of their F'ing minds.  And unlike the old days, anything but straight will no longer get you out. Nothing gets you out.

Two Kinds of People...

There are those who always think in terms of what everyone should do, and how to force them.  They think this is the best way of things for everyone, because they know best.

And there are those who do not think in those terms.

I saw something which quoted Jon Stewart asserting that everyone of draft-able age should serve a year of military or community service or whatever kind of government thing.

Jon was not subjected to the draft.  He never had the government threatening to conscript him to fight a war which may have been conducted under false pretense.  Certainly most of America seemed confused about the situation.   The hawks were still thinking in terms of the clear cut goals which marked WWII.  So it was knee jerk patriotism to support the Vietnam war and draft.

The protestor side was blaming us for being awful people etc., as if we were the ones violating every war crime taboo in the book.  As a matter of course.  I am sure we did at times.  I probably would have either melted into a puddle or violated all those things in some manic state of hysteria.  Properly directed though, that kind of thing can win the day.

But, I was never there.  Just threatened, blackmailed, baffled and horrified by the draft.  I was horrified because I was under the belief that our country was much freer and less oppressive than others. Yet they could force me to meet their plans and goals, not mine.  And their goals are a bit gray in most skirmishes since WWII.

 I had been to Latin America as a kid and they had a different feel.  Bureaucratic abuse.  Lines.  Unnecessary delays, seemingly just to affirm to the citizen that he/she is a subject under power of the state.

Back then, that seemed a contrast.  Not so much anymore.  So, really, all you need do is hang around long enough in many parts of the USA, and old fashioned third world problems will come to you.  It is like a free vacation!   TB!  Lines!  Total absence of reason within public agencies.  Something for everyone.

It always gets me when someone makes these pronouncements upon groups of which they do not belong.  And in some cases, even if they do belong, by what right do they suggest all their fellow whatevers "serve" as they see fit?  Is it OK because everyone is or was young?  OK because that is the most powerless, but most physically fit age group.

When only men were drafted, I believed it was the result of a long history in which middle aged men found ways to get rid of young men so they could chase the younger women.  Now, I don't know.  I was probably right, but the stupid plan has now backfired big time.

What You Can't See, can hurt you

So, sometimes things catch my eye online.
I was on facebook on an unremarkable post.
Someone commented, "I'm a Cali girl. Always". 
I thought she said, "Call girl." Could be time to update the specs. I almost made an inappropriate financial inquiry. Yikes.

I need to check an see if maybe you will buy me glasses through medicare or some other program. I think they allow you to get an eye on a stick every year or two. At least that is what the poor people get.

I'm relieved. Not a call girl figuratively strutting her stuff. Just the usual Cali girl deal. Reminds me of Miami in a way. Code for trouble. That is all I will say. It is to myself. Steer clear. Pure fluff and no stuff ahead. Maybe it is the cadence of certain phrases that mark the dangerously unsatisfying relationship, yet to happen.

Some things never change. No matter how hard we pretend.

Once Again, doing a 180

Just an aside.  180 degrees is like an about face.  If you were going north and did a one eighty, you'd be going south.  I say that because I don't know how often I've heard someone claim to have done a 360 turning their life around.  (I give up and use 'their' as a universal, singular possessive pronoun.  I guess that is what it is. I am horrible at naming things like that)  Anyway, if you do a 360, you could just as well have stayed home and took a nap.

I may have disparaged the medical world and they do deserve it to a large degree, but I have to say, I have had an easy time navigating it once my friend Lynn hooked me up with best case insurance options, and on my own I sought out who to deal with.  I will not deal with the arrogant intern guy, but I will continue with the arrogant blood guy.

I am doing so well on a low dose of the drug to deal with blood production that it has got me so close to within bounds on all values that I would pass if this were even a private high school.   They'd make me jump through some hoop but I would pass.

That is because I am the miracle boy, hard as it is to live in this mind.  Today it is not only easy, but entertaining and nice.  A rarity, to be sure.

But the frustrating thing is the pins and needles attack.  It is kind of itch and kind of not.  More like nano second convulsions, each accompanied by a simultaneous itchy pin prick.  Like the end of a thick paint brush full of these things, each bristle a nano-second, seizure causing tentacle.   That is almost the deal when it hits really hard.  I can mostly avoid that.

Anyway, the blood guy does his job but insists I am wrong; no way scalding hot water can make the itch go away.  Even though that is often the only salvation.  Rare physical stuff is best not shared with know it all specialists who know only one thing.  I plan to write up a paper for him and any other doctor educating them on aquagenic pruritus and refer them to some sources.

You look how boring most trade publications are. Especially among elitist con artists like doctors and lawyers.  They use a lot of Latin and Greek to intimidate the clients they allegedly serve.  Intimidation=$$$$  That is why government often harasses people in ways that force them to get a lawyer, and once they pay some money, the harassment goes away.  They are in league, of course.

Thank you for paying much of my bill.  At least the insurance part.  Although, right now, I pay as much in insurance, or more, than care is costing me.  But if anything changes maybe I would need it.

I got a card that says "Silver Sneakers".   Unbelievable.  A card for "seniors" to get into participating gyms.  Part of insurance.

I felt so demeaned.  Silver sneakers?  That's sort of like some toddler sounding program.  Patronizing.  Now they are going to treat me like they do kids.  Talk real fake and slow and clear and in your face with my fake f'ing, screw you, senior, smile.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I hate the term "seniors".   Not fond of "youngsters", either.  Take that how you will.

Wow, these spunky seniors can show the kids a thing or two when it comes to hopscotch on this sidewalk!!!
That's the kind of stuff news people say.  Why?  Because they have no souls.

You asked, I told you.  Don't be shooting the messenger.

It is so bizarre.  I am in a group that usually falls between the seams or os invisible to government largesse--as it should be, it a perfect world--however, this time I am in the perfect loser demographic to benefit from the health thing.  My age helps I guess.  I am just poor enough that I can select some choices to fund whatever medicare doesn't pay.  If I were poorer, I would not be allowed that option. Insane, arbitrary and a little bit cold hearted.

I may see if I can drop the supplement because I am only having to run labs and see a Dr about every four or five months as long as these levels maintain.

Maybe it is good that you pay so much and then I am more or less forced to accept what your money buys in the form of insurance and subsidies.  In principle I do not agree with it.  But screw it.  I may need the psych part just to stay afloat.  I feel like I have to do something useful if I survive, to justify your support of my health and such.

If I were running for president I'd promise everyone health care and assure you that the Canadians would pay for it.

I'd blame everything on videos; incest, murder, rape, mayhem, rocket attacks--you name it.

Aptly Named, Target

I'm not much for boycotts.  Although my life often appears to be one big boycott.  Those are either the good times when I don't spend money, or the bad times when I am too broke to pay attention.

Here we are now with another Target boycott.  This time, according to the chance article I read, it is lead by Christian groups who disapprove of how they operate their restrooms.  I doubt people really investigate these things before reacting.

Somehow it has really become the item du jour to distract people from reality.  I keep thinking all kinds of mischief must be happening in real life, and that is why they keep tweaking an absurd yet emotional issue that they know will get everyone on their high horse.

Soliloquy after soliloquy with poetic homage paid to the convoluted philosophical position of each alleged side in this odd controversy.

Here is the good news:  If enough people boycott Target, stuff is going to start going on sale and killer bargains can be had.

My impression is that the boycott idea is considered right wing.  Last time I remember them being boycotted was something to do with unions.  I can't believe that veil still stands up.  But I think people view unions and their tactics like people view the Mob.  If they are the recipients of generosity or financial gain due to the actions of the thugs, well, then, they aren't thugs, they are just people fighting for rights and dignity, etc.  

It is the victim mentality.  If you or those you protect enjoy victim status, then all normal restraint and humanity of conscience are suspended, because you can't have a victim without an assailant of some sort.  And you do anything to survive so it is OK to do rotten things to the bad guys.  Both sides may be bad guys.  In this context, both sides generally play victim.  It is a game, and it is a sham on the large scale.  Of course government is heavily involved.  That keeps the right interests on top.  Unions are right there with Monsanto or any large multi-national.

Unions are big business.  They basically sell votes and government worker unions very transparently launder union dues into campaign support for purchasing politicians of their choice.  From one standpoint, it is brilliant.  If anyone questions tax paid worker unions, and their heavy political activism, they are called anti-worker, duped by corporations, etc.

Be that as it may.  The point is that Target experienced a more left wing organized boycott the last time.  Everyone boycotts Target, so it seems.  And mostly over stuff that probably doesn't even concern them.

I wonder if there will be sales now, or maybe wait a few days before heading out to Target.  I will make a point Not to use the bathroom before I go.  I want to use theirs.

How Do These Non-Issues Become Issues?

It is like intellectual neo-dadaism.  Or something.  How can it be this huge deal regarding transgenderation?   And now it is a bigger deal because anyone can imagine itself to be any sex whatsoever and exercise the the rights and privileges that come with it.

I fancy myself a 6' 4" Honduran pole dancer and book shop owner.  Any word to the contrary from anyone just proves that they are xenophobic, racist (of course), sexist bullies, and anti-literate.

What is being done here, and what the lunatics are doing to young children, is not healthy and, at best, is based upon junk science.  I will be told that is debatable.   I do not care to debate the structure of nature or the nature of rights.  Time will most likely prove me right, but I will probably be long gone by then.

Forcing a kid to be what he cannot is unkind, at best.  But pretending to be open while actually pushing some ill conceived act of love and tolerance upon him because he once picked up a doll is as bad.  Maybe worse.  Convincing yourself your young child is transgender at age five is nuts. Convincing him is cruel and wrong.  I have seen a couple of families who wanted to be on tv with their near toddler transgendered unfortunate.  They are pushing it. The kid knows nothing.

I think a lot of parents fall into a pattern of rewarding confusion that they actually create.   The child is getting all this loving attention--It is OK, my barely out of diapers child, we applaud your courageous stand in realizing you are a drag queen diva locked in a five year old boy's body.   And now the kid is special.  That is pretty much all the kid knows at that point, "If I act a certain way, I get a certain reward."  Kids sense that progressive pride a parent feels when the child is the center of a controversy they can sink their teeth into.

The zanier the better.  And even better yet if it inconveniences others. After all those others are selfish mean bastards who don't care or understand. No escaping these people.  Ignore them and they block the roads. It's like all the gimme dolla guys around Memphis.  They are relentless and all pervasive.  They just won't go away.

All the special talk and controversy.  That kid now has found the way to the zone where no one can criticize him, and people come to coddle him and soothe his pain--whether any exists or not.

This episode will someday be viewed as a flight of fancy and a bunch of nonsense.  Many think this is progress, as defined by progressives.  That is a misnomer unless you take it to mean progressively more draconian and insane.

They should more accuratetly call themselves "oppressives".  Those are the ones who think it is OK to stop traffic in the name of their cause, because they are righteous.  They are the ones who think shouting people down or otherwise denying them the right to speak is OK, because they know what the person was saying was somehow damaging and can't be heard.  Just can't.  Might trigger the fragile sensibilities of the faithful and make them feel unsafe.

I know the feeling.  I watched some Hollywood nitwit spend all his time telling everyone to use only one little square of toilet paper in order to save the planet, rain forests, and God only knows what else.  That is a progressivism in a nut shell.  Misguided collectivists idealists.  Get me the fumigator.

And though time may prove me right, the creative scribes of history will likely cast a fantasy land version of reality as the definitive record of this period of time. 

It seems like it would be one thing if someone got the surgery to approximate the sex they weren't but insisted they were inside.  But you go showering with the girls  at high school age?   Some may be disturbed by the mismatch between some body parts and self assessment.

That is the only problematic situation I see in this deal.  If they had said, when I was seventeen, that  I could go shower in the girls locker room if I felt like a girl inside, I suspect several of my pals and I would have suddenly found our inner girls and skipped right on over there.

Denying reality while trying to pretend to be compassionate does not change that reality.  Someone went out of their way to dream up this non-issue.  One day there will be a name for this particular madness.  It may even be found that it is a brain infection caused by soy milk or some mosquito borne virus.

Honestly, I do not care.  But I am not female, and not raising children.  It is very hard just to avoid most of the stuff on cable when you have kids.

Then you have dumbass politicians who no doubt think they are conservative.  Conserving thought, apparently.  They have to create an issue, then go all old west, neck tie party reactionary in fixing in while grandstanding.   It is nonsense.  Both of the sides of this issue are pretty much being idiotic and functioning with partial information because it suits their desires.

I must confess.  Just the other day I used the ladies room because the men's room was unavailable and I was in need.  I have done it many times, taking extra care not to cause moisture to occur on the seat.  I did not have my birth certificate in hand so that could have been trouble.  

SoCal anomalies

A couple of things about the CA culture that stand out are the refusal to clearly post location information on websites for companies, and any event promotion.  There is a real aversion to making it very obvious.

The other thing is that people hate to tie things down in a way that secures the property even if that first skinny piece of string breaks.  They hate to be sure couches and refrigerators won't fall onto the highway.  Half the time they just keep going.  Someone else gets the goods.

If you listen to the traffic reports you can be alerted to good stuff in the road.  "On the 5 south [they always do that 'the' thing with roads] there's a couch in lanes, slowing traffic near the 805 split."  Or it may be an appliance.  Or even an engine block.  One day it was a differential.  The traffic guy knows his jetsam and flotsam.

Can You Imagine Such a Reality Ripple?

When core beliefs or skepticisms are proven wrong or otherwise discovered to be so, it shakes one's reality.  That is the affect on me.  It is a weird kind of feeling.  Like a shock and your body slams a jolt of adrenalin in there.

I realize that I have a totally different view of life than I did even three or four years ago; what matters, things like that.   It is freaking me out because it nullifies almost everything about me, by my reckoning.

So, I have to find ways to defeat that thinking. And feeling.  I believe all that.  Maybe I should assume that there is a reason for all my complete acceptance of misinformation and insistence upon insane judgment calls.  It is a very haunting sensation that tends to last far too long.

Oh forget that!

What amazes me about humans is how much technological progress they have made.  In truth, sociological, too, though we tend to revert.  But our species has managed to create some fairly clean and functional cities, and comfort which is only had by tricking and bending nature.  Protecting ourselves from its whims and bugs.

What has happened in only a few lifetimes is remarkable.  The cumulative effect from the efforts of many independent creators, mostly not even aware of one another.

I need to stop and ponder.  Best course of action is almost always obvious, just not always the most convenient.  Even so, why would anyone have a reflexive aversion to saving himself certain pain and remorse?  There is no reasonable reason, so let's just not consider that an option.  Any more.

Dystopia in a Heartbeat or Two

It is easy to forget that most people are younger than I am, and they don't remember the days prior to mandatory seat belts, complete fear of everyone, schools serving as parent and guardian, cops in the halls, search and seizure without direct cause in the name of national or other security.  We are so safe.

Due to the presentation of our lives, by media and government, as being in imminent danger at all times from white men, products, weather, itinerate perverts, etc., we actually tend to believe that we are in more of a war zone now than ever.

A look at crime statistics, (which we only look at selectively to avoid the fact that the most vocal victims in our country happen to be about 20 times more likely to shoot or rape you than other groups), shows that we do not have significantly more of this stuff than in the past.  We just package the sensational images and stories more effectively.

News naturally does anything it can to promote regulation of any and every kind.  They just do.  Government likes that because they like power, and some actually believe they are better at running the lives of others than the owners of those lives.  Of course, some would go so far as to debate who owns your life.

The office of mayor of New York City has long been a place where would be tyrants and out of touch billionaires run rough shod over anything resembling rights, reason, and integrity.  Giuliani was an anomaly.  His focus was a little more reasonable than the last couple they have had there.

Now this clown, De Blasio, -another politician unfamiliar with the Constitution and any notion of proper government function--is using his office's bully pulpit  to harm and bully businesses who disagree with him politically.  So, the owners of Chik-a-Filet (that right?)--do not embrace the whole lbgtqxyz activist agenda, so Bill publicly suggests boycotting them.

And people think it is OK.  It is not.  I don't care how dysgendered or erotically unusual you are.  Anyone can go in and buy chicken so it must just be a problem if you do not also think Bruce Jenner is a hero.

So we have the mayor of one of the premier cities in the world using his office to affect the business and income of those who don't support him and his causes.

Then in Wisconsin, there is a guy riding around on a motorcycle, showing off his big tattoo, suggesting that Paul Ryan arm wrestle him.  In the video, he has a passenger, but you cannot really tell who or what it is.  Maybe a wife?  So bundled up, and with the helmet and all, it could be a boyfriend.  We don't know.  He was trying to look like a badass, except for the part where he's in a suit walking around in a warehouse.

After the arm wrestle challenge, he turns his back and walks into some building, maybe a gay bath house or a gym.  His badass T shirt without sleeves has a bandana wearing skull and crossbones on the back.  ???  WTF?

What is it with people who love death stuff and bones?  I never got it with real bikers any more than with politician bikers.  What a creep.  Grown man, running for an important office which directs trillions of dollars, sends people to fight wars, screws with regulations and dreams up hoops for citizens to jump through just in order to keep the guns away from their door, and he is publicly trying to play mean biker bully to get the job?

Maybe don't vote Ryan, I don't know.  I have never been a big fan of his.  Somehow the charm of either party has worn off.  I really wanted to like any party opposing the democrats, but there is no such thing I don't think. They are all nuts.

But some shallow lawyer playing weekend Hell's Angel, showing off his stupid tattoo, and taunting his opponent with arm wrestling is too much.  Besides, I think Ryan is the one always working out, so he probably can beat the wannabe biker with the mystery person of unknown gender assignment or preference on the back.

Just wait.  Those clowns will probably have a debate down the line and then arm wrestle in some beer joint.  Maybe life is supposed to be a circus. Anymore, I just do not know.

I am so glad I don't catch the videos and tele news too much.  This is the dumbest election cycle in some time.

But millenials and most others have no clue that the path is toward a dystopian all powerful state which continually promotes fear while creating chaos and fostering crime. All in the packaging.  I heard one talking to his mom about the '50's, "when it was OK for a husband to beat his wife".   What?  That is how people are taught.   It is not true.  Just like American men, and Canadian too, probably, have generally treated women on a more egalitarian basis than their european counterparts, and absolutely better than their Latin American counter parts.

But you'd never know it because of what is presented and reinforced.  

The biggest problem has always been the hiding of root causes for things.  If you jump into analyzing the process at a point along the way, you are likely to miss the real impetus of the whole thing.

Reality is that government is a money maker for a lot of people.  It is good to have various things handled in common, especially since you are paying for me.  But it is not the altruistic ultimate arbiter of truth and justice, and should not be treated as such.  I fear officialdom run amok as much as I do the riffraff.  Maybe more.

Through fear mongering, we have a society peopled by young adults who never knew any significant time in childhood when they weren't monitored, strapped in, helmeted and schooled in superstitious rituals and rites which are passed off as celebrations of diversity and fairness.

My crowd was fed a lot of garbage too.  That is why the new batch is even deeper in the nonsense.  I knew it was a veiled form of bullying then, and I know it now.   The real enticement that few will admit has been the state's eager insistence on taking over child care.  Suckers think they are off the hook.  Accidentally gave birth, how bout you feed this thing breakfast and lunch and keep him all day so I can absolve myself of the guilt of having kids I cannot care for, and about whom I care not.

But do not hurt his-her-its feelings without providing some safe space where all who are different become fair game for us to bully him-her-it until it-him-her goes away or we righteously beat it to a pulp.

All of a Sudden, Nothing

I've learned my lesson as far as explaining my disconnect and confusion, confessing my inability to properly live and embrace life, and medical worries.  Those are just excuses for why I am as I am.  Or something.  Or, more accurately, why I am not what I should be, could be, and in God's eyes and those who think the see those orbs, too, why I have sinned against all that is holy for not using my brain to change the world and stuff.  

If I had such a brain, and I do not, I would use it to create a far different life.  This is not working but one cannot be frozen in place for weeks on end with only reprieves of a few hours here and there, and expect to be sitting on much that is worthwhile.

My theory is that not everyone has the same degree of imperative when it comes to deep seeded, primitive instincts.  Some survive no matter what.  Some multiply against all odds and prudence.

There are many less obvious drives that steer humanity, as well.  It is natural for people, if the think you are down, to kick you and take whatever they can.  In civilization, they don't admit it, but it is done on every level of life.  So, the bit of actually telling those who profess friendship of your deepest fears and most worrisome battles is a lie.  Do not tell anyone of any fear or weakness. 

Because, if there is any validity to your fears or maladies, you will get trounced.  Don't test friendship that way.  Such tests rarely work out well.  I would think avoiding test situations is best.   

Anyway, what happened?  I think no one is left standing on the republican side, except Trump.   The more I hear from people acting like it will be the end of the world if he were elected, the less I think they are right.  Obama didn't end the world.. Yet.

No, the real issues are faulty intrinsic instincts, and some instincts run amok.   I don't know how that part works.  In some people there is an overpowering imperative to turn on themselves, relentlessly.  

 It seems like a feeling of "what now?".   The thought of Trump and Hilary trading attacks is not pleasant.  Thankfully I do not have TV, as in cable and such.  I avoid a lot of news without even trying any more.  

If only the governmental freaks would just generally leave people alone.  But they don't.  They are paid to dream up ways to insinuate themselves into your life and to judge and control your behavior, choices, habits, you name it.  

No candidate running understands that the purpose of the constitution is to limit and contain government power, as a safeguard to the people.  Most of the public does not get that either.  It is the nature of humans, still, to abuse power and to feed their greed.  So you have to keep the keepers of the peace peaceful.  Best way is to limit temptation - limit power.

Another Strange Day Playing

Playing, as in playing the music songs. I know it can have many connotations.  I actually never wanted to be a guy that played these events; that played music at all.  Seriously, I never really liked the thought of it.  And here I am.  In a way that sucks.  Even though I may be considered entertaining or good by some.

I hate it with a passion when someone tells me they can hear me in this instance and that but they think they are supposed to hear more, like I get too quiet.  IDIOTS!!!  The art of the M*&^% F(&^%g blend, Dumbass!  The do not realize what they are hearing because there is a harmonic that happens with the guitar, and some with the viola that is almost indistinguishable from what I am playing.  They we peel off, like the Blue Angels doing that thing where they split off in different directions, but in harmony.

Anyway.  Adams Avenue Unplugged.  But that was a big fat lie.  Everyone was plugged in, at least to a P.A. and often an amplifier.  They invite various groups and, apparently, assign the groups and the venues match-ups.  We got an Italian place.  In SoCal, tons of restaurants have as much or more outdoor seating as indoor.  But the outdoor patio is often covered with a series of giant umbrellas or other tent like contrivance.  Like this place.  There is a wall between the sidewalk and the seating area/patio.  But it is only about bar height, and has a nice flat suface so passers by cabn lean on it an watch the band.

When we started, the place was pretty much empty.  It was packed by about the third song, and people were three deep on the sidewalk looking over that wall I mentioned.   So we played our obligatory hour set.   Then we were supposed to take a break for an hour and come back and do another hour.  But when we quit, the restaurant owner or manager came over and asked if we would start early because we brought in a crowd.  We could have quit early but everyone was having a good time playing so the hour and a half still felt like fifteen minutes.

Part of me likes this.  And part of me despises it.  I really doubt that is a good thing.  I'll see what I can do about fixing that.

I messed up like crazy.  No one else probably realized.  It was not obvious.  I know when I miss.  Today was enough fun that I think that came through so anywhere I fell short of my goal may not have dampened it too much.

There were groups all down the street at different places.  I'd say we lucked out by getting the venue best suited to us.  At least I liked it better than the other places I checked out later.

This oppositional dichotomy disorder must be addressed in no uncertain terms.  (when you hear stuff like "in no uncertain terms", you know whatever precedes it will get lost in the maze of madness.  It will not happen any time soon--whatever it is.