Category: Government

Daily Life, Government, Technology

The Intelligence Revolution is Here

We’ve seen many technical revolutions in this country. The Industrial Revolution, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Digital Revolution… we survived all of them and came out the other side thriving and a more prosperous nation because of them. Today feels different. We’re at the beginning stages of what is being called the Intelligence Revolution. This time around we’re not just replacing tools or enhancing productivity, we’re replacing something that was always the exclusive domain of humans – cognitive thought.

In previous industrial revolutions, no matter how sophisticated the advances in machines or tools became, it still took a human brain to oversee and operate. Machines (even computers) were dumb. They have been traditionally limited by inputs, programing, and linearly focused to perform specific tasks. Yes people lost jobs as productivity improved, but people could be retrained to operate the new machines and the resulting productivity created growth and more jobs for those able to retrain and adapt. But very, very soon we will need massively fewer people to operate the machines. Why? Because the machines have cognitive, reasoning abilities. We no longer need a brain encased in a meat suit to oversee everything.

I’m generally an optimist and have faith in the human condition to adapt, overcome, and persevere. We’ve done it many times before and managed to build a great nation because of it. Big picture, I believe we’ll adapt to this brave new world and come out the other end better off. BUT… there’s a nasty wrinkle in this that has the potential to throw a monkey wrench in the works and create a decidedly unpleasant future. That unknown variable is speed.

The time estimate of the Industrial Revolution, from initial disruption to maturation was about 150 years. That’s 3-4 generations of workers. In other words, it didn’t happen overnight. There was time to adapt, to see the writing on the wall and retrain for new/different careers. The Intelligence Revolution is projected to take about 40 years – a 3-4x increase in speed. AI is growing at an exponential rate. The physical layer (robots on the factory floor) is expected to reach maturity/status quo in 2035. The cognitive layer (white collar automation) in 2045. In a nutshell, we’re pulling the rug out from under an entire generation of workers overnight.

Why does that matter? The labor force participation rate (working or looking) for 18-35 year olds is 70 million. Of those, 36 million are considered low-moderate skilled (no or some college). We already know that young folks today are not facing the same economic landscape as earlier generations. The purchasing power of $1 in the 80’s would cost $3.93 today. $2.47 in 90’s dollars. Housing costs have skyrocketed, pushing most young folks into high cost rents that they’ll struggle to save enough to achieve home ownership. We’re already sensing that young people feel like the deck is stacked against them and they are very disillusioned by the “establishment”.

Now take that disillusionment and dump a minimum of 10-12 million 18-35 year olds into the unemployment bucket. The current projections say 1 out of 3 people in that age bracket will be displaced in the next 10 years. That’s almost half of the younger population, with low-moderate skills, unable to find a job. How bitter and disillusioned do you think they’ll be? Zero job prospects and pissed that the boomers and Gen Xer’s are happily retiring and living a decent life. This is not a recipe for societal harmony.

It’s hard to estimate, but best guesses put the total number of ANTIFA members in the US at somewhere in the low thousands. Picture the amount of disruption and violence they’ve already been able to create over the last few years with just those limited numbers. Now dump a million new members (a few million?) into that group, angry, frustrated, with zero perceived life options, all organizing, protesting, sowing chaos and violence everywhere. And when the government comes in with a heavy hand to squash the movement… well, that’s how revolutions start.

I don’t know what the answer is. Universal basic income? Massive increases in social welfare programs? A moon-shot type of nationwide retraining program? A complete overhaul of our education system? Even if the system could move fast enough to get ready for what’s coming (the government moving quickly?), the nation is broke. We’re $38 trillion in debt. Social security is insolvent in 2032. It seems unlikely we could keep inflation at bay and still find a way to fund some sort of massive nationwide retraining program.

The Intelligence Revolution is neither good nor bad. It’s simply progress, evolution, and inevitable. It’s happening whether you want it or not. I’m honestly not sure what to think about how this will play out other than to say, be very careful about who you elect as our “leaders” moving forward. How our local and federal elected officials react to the changes will dictate everything. I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse.

“Interesting times are when the map becomes useless and the story begins.”

I described this scenario to AI and asked it to create a quote that resembled an old Chinese proverb. That’s what it came up with and seems pretty spot on.

Diet, Government, Health

MAHA Saves Your Life With Red Dye Ban

You may not realize it, but you owe a huge thank you to RFK Jr. I’m not embellishing at all when I say that he may very well have saved your life. Banning artificial dyes might be a death blow to evil Big Pharma, Big Food, Big Ag, Big Oil et al. and puts us on a road to healthy living. It’s not hyperbole to say that getting rid of Red Dye #40 may cut obesity rates in the United States by 83%. Seriously – you can look it up on Instagram. As the smarmy boss Bill Lumbergh in Office Space often said, “Mmmm, Yeeeah”….

I’m just going to have to say it – RFK Jr. has to be Trump’s worst cabinet pick. Trump got bamboozled by a glorified Wellness Influencer (TM). Well, to be fair he needed JFK’s voting block and figured HHS would be a do no harm consolation prize in exchange. The problem with Wellness Influencers is that they drift somewhere in between uninformed but well intentioned, to full on grifter and snake oil salesman. I was willing to give RFK Jr. benefit of the doubt until I listened to his speech describing his ban of artificial food dyes.

Look, I’m a fan of science. Actual science, driven by the Scientific Method should be the gold standard. And when talking about human health we should rely primarily on human outcome data, not mechanistic, in vitro, or rodent studies to make big decisions. Crazy, right? What do the actual human outcome studies say about something? Preferably a meta analysis of a large number of studies.

This is where RFK Jr. lost me – in his speech he spouts numbers and statistics that are made up and/or completely misleading in order to make his point. He’s the master of conflating correlation with causation and stating it as fact. In other words he uses the exact playbook the Wellness Influencers utilize. He even had a bunch of them there with him – Mark Hymen, The Food Babe, Calley Means. They’re all experts at taking something that has a kernel of truth and using that to extrapolate blanket statements about a particular subject that very few people will ever read the actual studies or ask questions. They get away with it because nobody in the media will ever bother to question them. Why would they – it’s all about health, right?

Here’s the first example that jumped out of RFK Jr. using extremely misleading data. He stated in his speech, “There was zero spent in this country treating chronic disease when my uncle was president. Today it’s about $1.8 trillion annually. It’s bankrupting our nation. 74% of American kids cannot qualify for military service. How are we going to maintain our global leadership with such a sick population?”

Wow, that sounds bad! Of course we should do something! Here’s the sleight of hand that happens – the 74% figure is true (it’s actually 77%). The problem is that in the context of the “chronic disease” he’s addressing, only 18% of kids are disqualified due to obesity or other health issues. The rest are disqualified due to criminal records, drug use, tattoos and ear gages, inability to pass the basic academic tests, etc… So he’s completely misleading the public with a false statistic to make his point sound more dramatic.

In the world of science, that’s malfeasance. He’s a smart guy. I don’t believe it was by accident because he does it over and over again. His speech is rife with that sort of thing. It’s cherry picking data to support your opinion – the classic Wellness Influencer/Grifter move. Once do you start doing that regularly it’s impossible to take anything you say seriously. If he were the run of the mill TikTok influencer I wouldn’t care. I have the choice to believe Gary Brecka, The Glucose Goddess, Bobby Parish, or Dr. Berg if I want. I don’t have a choice when the HHS Secretary is using bad or cherry picked data to make decisions.

His decision to ban his list of artificial dyes is projected to cost industrial production somewhere between the high hundred millions to low billion dollars in retooling, labeling, regulation compliance, and supply chain disruption/procurement changes. The current guess is a 10-15% cost increase passed on to consumers.

All for what? A few nebulous studies that say ultra high doses of some dyes might lead to hyperactivity in kids? Really, that’s it? Ah but the EU banned those dyes, why wouldn’t we? Did you know that many of those dyes ARE used in the EU, just under a different name? Or that many of the “natural” dyes used in the EU are banned by the U.S.? Did you know some of the red dye substitutes the EU uses are derived from cochineal insects (Dactylopius coccus) and that resulting acid is a red anthraquinone glycoside, and is often used as a sodium or calcium salt for solubility. That sounds like a yummy additive for your kids yogurt (it’s in cosmetics as well).

So the first move out of the gate for the MAHA movement is to ban something that I guarantee nobody even thought about prior to this election cycle, to fix an problem that nobody can actually prove is impacting anyone, at an enormous cost to the consumer. Way to go MAHA! But at least my ingredients are “natural” now and not some scary sounding chemical name. Pssst – everything is a chemical, even natural things.

I honestly appreciate that the Administration wants to make America healthy again. It should be a priority. But blaming my obesity on Nabisco and ultra palatable foods is like blaming my speeding tickets on Ford because my car is capable of going 120 MPH. Twinkies were invented in 1930 and the calorie content is the same today as it was then (yes, I looked it up). The reason we didn’t have an obesity crisis back then and we do now is multi-faceted… but I guarantee some mysterious chemical and processing done by an evil food cabal is not the root cause. Lack of physical activity, advertising, portion size, mental health, and body positivity movements come way ahead of chemicalphobia in the list of reasons.

I don’t know what the thinking was behind attacking food dyes as the first priority for MAHA, but it was a bad look. Coming out with a gaggle of Wellness Influencers, pseudoscience, and questionable statistics does not inspire confidence.

I can hardly wait until he goes after seed oils. The Wellness Influencers will be barking like performing seals, overjoyed that they’ve mandated deep frying french fries in beef tallow. It’s all about health you know.

Daily Life, Government, Politics, Solving the wrong problem, woke

What Do They Want?

Yesterday was the national “Hands Off!” protest. Watching the protests unfold across the country, I was inspired. So powerful. Speaking truth to power. I can hardly wait until the “Fight the Oligarchy Tour” comes to my town next week! Sorry, just kidding. The sheer ridiculousness of these “movements” is the perfect demonstration of what’s wrong with the democratic party today. I have absolutely no frigg’n idea what they’re actually protesting or what they want?

I visited the Hands Off! and Bernie’s Oligarchy Tour websites to see if they listed what they’re protesting against. Nothing. Just pithy sayings and links to order protest signs. “Musk is not my president!, Hands off immigrants!, Hands off DC!, Tax the billionaires!”. You’d think the organizers would want to put forth actual talking points and information describing what they want or what the alternative plan is… but you’d be wrong.

If you disagree with Trump’s tariff plan or closing the border or cutting taxes, that’s fine – then explain what your plan is. This is the problem with the left’s message – nobody has any idea what they actually want. To the best I can tell they want to open the border again, the national debt doesn’t matter, they clearly don’t like cutting government waste and fraud, and are happy with the current globalist trade structure. Am I wrong?

Yeah, but Elon is a Nazi and Trump is just protecting his billionaire friends! Hah! Counter that you white nationalist pig!! Protesting something is fine but without articulating an alternative, you’re just stomping your feet like a petulant child. The closest to having a plan is Bernie, whose sole focus in life is to tax the billionaires because somehow that’s going to fix our financial mess.

The irony is that for the first time we have an administration willing to expose just how badly the little guy has been getting screwed by the government. The true oligarchy is the defense industrial complex, politicians, and DC deep state entities that have bent you over and forced you to take it up the ass for years. The government has pissed away every tax dollar taken from me in my entire working life in about 30 seconds. Since I have to write the annual check to the government this week… I’m fucking angry about my money being forcibly seized and wasted. And the Left’s response is – please stop exposing and cutting the waste? Help me understand how this is your action plan for the working man??

Destroying Teslas and chanting that Trump and Elon are only doing this to enrich themselves is so breathtakingly idiotic, it’s difficult to believe this is the actual strategy. I keep waiting for someone to intelligently articulate how going back to the Biden strategy (whatever that was) is how this country gets back on track. Please defend spending $1.5 million taxpayer dollars to fund a “voter confidence summit” in Liberia. Because if you don’t have either an alternative plan or a justification for the waste… then your idiotic protests will be treated as the clown show they appear to be.

My favorite signs from the protests are the ones with “Nobody elected Elon!”. So… you’re ok with shadowy, unelected bureaucrats pissing away $40+ billion a year at an agency like USAID – but man you’re REALLY pissed that someone is trying to make the government more efficient? Please help me make sense of that. Oh I know, it’s a giant conspiracy to funnel government money to Elon’s evil corporate oligarchy that you loved until last year. Sigh.

These are some strange times. It almost makes me want to return to the simplistic times when the Republicans were the party of the evil rich and the Democrats were the party of the working man. Simple talking points, clear lines in the sand. Everyone getting equally screwed by both parties behind the scenes. Ain’t politics fun?!?!

Government, Politics

You Have A Plan, Right?

Whooo boy, the dust-up in the Oval Office the other day sure stirred up the hornets nest. This issue is what’s known as a “shibboleth.” It’s a biblical term for a password used to distinguish one group from another, it’s evolved to mean a belief, issue, or even a phrase that serves as a clear marker of someone’s ideological tribe or moral stance. It’s a signal that cuts through the noise. Ask someone what they thought of the Zelenskyy, Trump, Vance verbal sparring and you’ll have a pretty good idea of their ideological leaning.

For all those folks once again posting “Glory to Ukraine” (the meaning of Slava Ukraini) on their social media, I have a question… now what? What’s the plan? How EXACTLY is this war going to end? Because I don’t see anything from the leftist warmongers or the EU that resembles any sort of path to end the killing. Nobody knows what the real figure is but 300,000 to 400,000 killed and wounded Ukrainian soldiers is a good rough guess. How long should that go on? It’s noble and all that you want to support the brave Ukrainians fighting against the evil Russians, but it’s now WWI style trench warfare with the added upgrade of remotely operated killer drones. As VP Vance said, the Ukrainian military is snatching people off the street and throwing them into this meat grinder. Do you really want this to continue indefinitely?

Absolutely nothing has changed since Sept of ’23 when I first said this. What’s the plan? How do we end this? I know that the left recoils at the mere thought that the horrible orange Nazi might be trying to do a good thing – but it’s pretty hard to deny that he genuinely seems to want to end the killing, stop the billions of dollars we’re spending, and prevent an escalation to WW3. How can you possibly be against that? I honestly want to understand the logic.

I get it – you think if we don’t stop them, the Russians are going to march across the frozen plains of Ukraine and invade the EU first chance they get. That’s all good and wonderful. Again, what is the plan? Put US/NATO troops on the ground? A NATO led no-fly zone in Ukraine? NATO strikes into Russia? Please explain in detail how that doesn’t escalate to Russia sending hypersonic missiles into EU cities? And what would our response to that be?

As much as the world would like Russia to suddenly decide this was a huge mistake and to pull all their troops back to the original border… it’s not going to happen. Sorry to disappoint you. Russia isn’t going anywhere. Choices are initiate a WW3 style offensive to push them out, or negotiate a deal that makes them happy. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s the truth.

If the EU really wants to push continued resistance and fighting, then you go girl. More power to you. We’re out. Oh, and just an FYI – if you poke the bear enough that he starts lobbing missiles at you, don’t look to us for help. We tried to warn you. And all that money you saved by not meeting your NATO security commitments… I guess you’re going to have to pay up now ’cause we’re not funding this nonsense any longer.

I’ll end where I started – if you’re in the ‘Slava Ukraini’ camp, what’s your plan? How do you end this without much of Europe becoming a smoldering crater? What death count are you comfortable with before this is done? Because I’ve seen nothing resembling a realistic path forward from anyone other than a certain orange man who can’t be named without TDS induced hysteria.

And that’s a hard pill to swallow…

Cool, Government, Politics, woke

I Don’t Really Care, Margaret

A reader called me out: my August ‘23 post aged like milk. Trump was neck-deep in lawsuits, fundraising was flat, and Ronna McDaniel was still RNC boss. I figured the DNC/deep state machine would crush him—swap in Newsom, game over. Wow, was I wrong.

On October 27th, 2023, Elon Musk bought Twitter, and everything changed. Suddenly, regular people could call BS on the nightly news without disappearing into the shadowban void. Then came July 13th, 2024: Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet missed Trump by a hair. Secret Service piled on, but he shoved through, fist up, roaring ‘Fight, fight, fight!’—a middle finger to fate itself.

Without those two events I don’t think Trump wins. That iconic photo of Trump, fist raised, blood streaming down his face was the final inflection point that pushed us down a different path.

Since then, watching the Right realize they no longer have to prostrate themselves to the establishment has been nothing short of amazing. VP Vance summed it up on Face the Nation. Margaret Brennan cut in, pushing back on deportations. He just shrugged: ‘I don’t really care, Margaret.’ Boom. That’s the new vibe—unapologetic, done with the script.

Trump has always been bombastic and says whatever he wants, damn the consequences. But his previous administration, and the collective Right, were milquetoast hostages with Stockholm syndrome. Conditioned to rarely push back against the left’s narrative for fear of being seen as too extremist, or worse… Those days are done. That’s the mood now—done playing defense.

You now see it with everyone in his administration and the conservative ecosphere. Trump’s team isn’t just pushing back; they’re steamrolling waste, woke nonsense, and the left’s tired script, while the media wails into the void. Watching the right realize they can ditch the media game entirely? Pure satisfaction.

Trump and DOGE could still stumble. The deep state isn’t going down without a fight. The establishment republicans are mouthing the words, waiting to see which way the wind blows. But even if they falter, the system reset was worth it. The country was teetering on the edge; it needed a hard snap back to reality. For the last four weeks, every day feels like unwrapping a gift as I scroll X obsessively, waiting for the latest mic drop.

The elite? The establishment? They are discovering the meaning of, “If thou meddlest about, thou findest out thus”. Glorious.

Government, Politics, woke

Ahead Of The Curve

California is in trouble. The fires are simply awful. At this point it will take a generation to rebuild. I doubt it will happen, but if CA was ever to flip red now is the time. Why? Finally the lack of competence has been exposed in a way that can’t be brushed under the rug. Homelessness, crime, poor roads – all things that can be obfuscated with a bunch of McKinsey consultant gobbldey goop word salad in a press release issued by a newly graduated twenty something marketing student. But multiple fires that wipe out entire city areas? Nope, you’re not going to be able to blame an act of god like a tornado or hurricane for this one. How this was handled is a direct result of incompetent leadership.

Everyone knows what competence looks like. It doesn’t matter if it’s a politician, a department manager at your company, or a tradesperson. Competent people give off an aura. Deep down you just know who’s got it and who doesn’t. The scary scenario is when incompetent people rise to a position of power and start thinking their shit don’t stink because people are forced to defer to their position in the hierarchy.

There’s a phrase we use in nursing, “staying ahead of the curve”. It means anticipating worst case scenarios and proactively managing them. Recognizing that a patient is at risk of sepsis so you do extra vitals checks to catch a sudden rise in heart rate or a temp increase. Understanding that a patient fresh out of surgery is prone to urinary retention so you do frequent bladder scans. Staying ahead of the curve means aggressively managing your patients with the highest risks and not letting the rest of your 3,000 daily tasks distract you.

It’s a little inside baseball, but new nurses are scary. You’re overwhelmed and simply reacting to whatever is thrown in front of you minute by minute. It’s easy to get sucked in to spending large amounts of time with the patient who frequently, loudly, complains about everything. Or the little old lady who constantly tries to get out of bed, setting off the bed alarm. And you’re behind in all your medication administrations because you got a new admit from surgery. Meanwhile, you ignore the quiet old man who’s rapidly descending into SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome). He’s easy and never complains. The CNA charted that he’s running a temperature but you haven’t had time to look at the charts for a while. He’s probably going to code in the next few hours because you got behind the curve and didn’t recognize what was happening. It takes a new nurse at least a year before they stop being reactive and start seeing a glimpse of the curve.

“Getting behind the curve” is exactly what happened in LA (and California as a whole). Politicians and leaders who don’t recognize that they’re incompetent. Busy reacting to whatever the media issue of the day is. Focused on DEI and intra-party squabbles and power positioning. Enjoying taxpayer paid trips to Ghana. Nonstop whining about needing more money to fight climate change. So when the inevitable happened, they were caught flatfooted and the infrastructure collapsed.

A perfect example of staying ahead of the curve is the state of Florida. You may not like his politics, but it’s hard to deny that Gov DeSantis is extremely capable. Every hurricane you see the state prepositioning thousands of linemen, getting emergency services set up, and being very proactive about communication. It’s very clear who’s in charge and running the state.

California? Nobody’s in charge. Everyone points fingers and deflects blame. Nothing gets done. The Biden administration is exactly the same. Name one person in the cabinet who you’d confidently say is competent. Blinken? Buttigieg? Harris? Whew, we dodged a bullet with that one. She would have been the Presidential version of the LA mayor. I shudder to think what would have happened to the country had she been elected.

I don’t mean this to be a partisan rant. It’s a rant about incompetence. I want leaders who stay ahead of the curve. I don’t care what party you’re from. I want the trains to run on time, the roads to be maintained, the police and fire departments to be well run, an atmosphere of economic growth and stability, and I want my taxes to be well spent. Do those things well and I won’t care if there’s an R or a D after your name.

To the citizens of my former state of California – I hope you now see the consequences of incompetent leadership. It’s easy to celebrate that you have the first LGBTQ+ leader of the fire department. Or that you’re banning diesel trucks because you care about climate change. Symbolism over substance is easy.

Until you get too far behind the curve. Then things get real in a hurry. And FYI, you’re still behind the curve. It’s time to get ahead before things go really bad.

Daily Life, Diet, Government, Health

Are You Sure You Want To Ban That?

It’s the buzzing that I hate the most. The ridiculous LED bulbs I’m required to have makes my tinnitus worse and they flicker in a weird way. We live in a hundred year old house with older non LED compliant dimmer switches and wiring connections that I’m sure aren’t the best. Good old incandescent bulbs worked just fine. Unfortunately the Bush administration decided that in the name of energy efficiency the federal government would ban incandescent light bulbs. An incandescent bulb costs something like .60 cents a day to operate. If I can afford it, why can’t I use whatever type of lightbulb I want? Clearly the government knows better than you. Besides, we have to save all those watts for the mandated electric vehicles we’re dumping on the grid.

Plastic bags. Straws. Vehicle auto-stop. Light bulbs. The government loves to regulate things. The federal register for 2024 is over 100,000 pages. They’ve added over 3,000 new regulations just this year. Every single physical object you encounter in your daily life is impacted by some sort of regulation. Either how it’s manufactured, shipped, packaged, sold, or used is regulated by the government.

As a certified contrarian and libertarian-ish small government person, I want the least regulation possible. I don’t want big brother deciding for me what sort of light bulb I can have. Should the government impose some regulations? Of course. Preventing Walmart from selling schedule one narcotics is probably a good thing. Keeping heavy industrial chemicals out of our waterways makes me happy. The problem is that regulations are a slippery slope. You start with good intentions and the next thing you know you have ridiculous EPA mandated plastic gas can spouts that nobody can operate. (I’ve spilled way more gas filling my lawn mower with those stupid spouts than I ever did with the old school ones)

Mrs Troutdog and I had a discussion about this last night in the context of RFK Jr. and banning “poisons and toxins” from our food. She’s all for it. MAHA all the way. Fuck that yellow dye number 5. She was not pleased that I didn’t agree. My argument is that you need to be careful what you wish for. The law of unintended consequences is always a factor.

Take RFK Jr’s desire to force soda companies to remove high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and go back to “regular” sugar. Sugar sweetened coke (Mexican coke) has more calories and more sodium. Is that really what you want? Do you really think people consuming multiple sodas a day are worried about HFCS? If you think I need to be protected from HFCS, what’s next? There is no dose of alcohol that’s healthy. Alcohol has a higher health cost to the nation each year than drinking soda and HFCS. Should we ban alcohol? How about tobacco? Apples contain cyanide. Time for an apple ban? Perhaps we should mandate maximum serving sizes at restaurants? Nobody is allowed to serve more than 800 calories per plate. Why is Starbucks even allowed to sell a 600 calorie Frappuccino? So sorry Dunk’n Donuts, your time is up. Americans are fat and unhealthy, so clearly we can’t be trusted to make our own health decisions. It’s time for big daddy government to step in.

I celebrate the idea of a secretary of HHS promoting a healthy lifestyle. I’m all in. But do it via aggressive information campaigns and labeling, not bans. Especially not bans based upon sketchy pseudo science. (I’m looking out for you maligned seed oils)

You can’t be protected from everything. Sometimes humans intentionally make bad choices. We drink. We smoke. We eat too many calories and don’t exercise. We don’t wear our seatbelts. There isn’t a single person in this country who thinks any of those things are good for us, yet we do ’em anyway. So the question is how much should the government protect us from ourselves?

In a perfect world we’d go back to foods that have been completely stripped of any type of preservative, additive, coloring, and flavoring. No hormones, antibiotics, or pesticides. 100% natural everything. Cook the way our grandparents did. Combined with limiting portion sizes and exercise, we’d be a healthier nation for sure. But here’s the dirty little secret – you can already do that today. You control the products you choose to buy. You decide how much processed food you consume. If you can afford it you can source all your food from local farms and shop at Whole Foods exclusively. Cook everything from scratch. It’s entirely in your control to drink only natural spring water from recycled glass bottles. If you think HFCS sweetened beverages are unhealthy… then don’t drink them.

I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure if you’re consuming enough Fruit Loops to reach toxic levels of yellow dye number 5 you have other diet and health problems. Government bans aren’t going to save you. Arm people with information and knowledge, encourage healthy behavior, reward the health care system for promoting preventative strategies… then get out of the way.

People will make bad choices. Darwin always finds a way to thin the herd. I’m ok with that. But if Secretary Kennedy steps in and messes up the taste and color of my Cheez-It crackers, I’m going to be pissed.

Government

You’re On Your Own

As of today we’re still reading about the devastating impacts of hurricane Helene. Tonight another monster hurricane, Milton, is going to slam into Florida. It’s the annual reminder that no matter where you live, those who prepare are generally better off than those who don’t. It turns out, almost exactly a year ago I wrote down a few thoughts on preparedness. Nothing life changing… just encouragement to be ready. As I re-read what I wrote, I was reminded of a saying I like.

Expect to self rescue. No one is coming.

What I like about that saying is that it applies to virtually everything – not just natural disasters. Unless you are very fortunate in life, nobody is coming to save you. It’s up to you to figure out your path to success. Perhaps there’s a metaphor somewhere in there about our current generation? Assumption that there’s always a safety net (mommy and daddy?) has made us soft.

Anyway, what got me started down this train of thought is a podcast I listened to yesterday. The guest asserted that for the most part, the federal government has collapsed. Not will collapse or might collapse – it has collapsed.

Americans of the modern era have been conditioned to blindly believe in “the experts”. Of course the scientists are right – they’re scientists for gods sake. The economists and the fed know best how to manage the economy. The foreign policy experts at the state department know best how to manage diplomacy and conflict management. The EPA, the NIH, department of education, FEMA, DOE, and on and on and on… Stay in your lane plebeian and let the experts manage things.

Except that for the last 30+ years the experts have demonstrated nothing but a cascading series of incompetent fuck ups. Immigration policy, foreign policy, Afghanistan, Iraq, the ’08 financial crisis, Covid, energy policy, our current inflation, the sad state of our military, the collapse of our education system, the green energy boondoggle… it goes on indefinitely. Please – I defy you to name anything the federal government does exceedingly well and under budget.

Hurricane Helene was the icing on the cake. The federal governments response has been so pathetic it’s embarrassing. FEMA has one job. And they’ve completely failed. Yesterday people were posting that the government helpfully sent them a pallet of electric chainsaws – to an area with no power. That is the perfect representation of our federal government.

With the avalanche of evidence available today that is flashing in giant red neon lights DANGER, DANGER, DANGER – if you still have any faith in our current federal government I’m honestly speechless. I suppose every society needs a certain number of sheep and cannon fodder.

Is it too late to change course? Can the impending collapse be stopped? I don’t know. There is a movement brewing. People are sick of the bullshit. Tired of the lies. Exhausted by the nonstop woke and politically correct crap. Mainstream media is failing. Twitter/X, alternative news sources, and long form podcasts are becoming the dominant information source. Even low viewership podcasts nobody has heard of have more viewers than the average CNN hour.

I hope that people are waking up to the fact that this election is about trying to jam a stick into the spinning spokes of a massive federal government intent on consuming everything in its path. The image consultants and media manipulators (of both parties) want you to think it’s about whatever pet social cause is the flavor of the month. Don’t take the bait.

If we don’t get some sort of disruptor into the executive office soon, it’s game over. Read up on the end of the Roman Empire. Is Trump the great disruptor? Doubtful based upon his first go-round. But… if he can resist all the bad personnel advice this time and get a few good people in place, maybe he can set the stage for whoever the next/real disruptor might be. If the machine has its way and manages to insert Kamala as the next mindless puppet… well, I’m not sure things are recoverable without pitchforks, tar and feathers. Do a little peruse through history to see how that unfolds.

Expect to self rescue. No one is coming. Deep down, you know it’s true. The sooner you acknowledge it and prepare, both in physical preparedness and mental acceptance of how dangerous the federal government has become, the better chance we all have of saving the republic for future generations.

Daily Life, Government, Politics

Who Has The Biscuit?

As I watched the President give an address from the Oval Office last night, I had a thought. Where is the biscuit? Hear me out… If you’re not aware, the president carries a laminated card with him at all times called the biscuit. The biscuit is a card that has all the authentication codes required for a nuclear response should we come under attack. As you can imagine, it’s kind of a big deal to ensure the president has that card with him always. There’s a military officer within physical reach of the president 24/7 who carries the nuclear “football”. The football is a briefcase containing laminated sheets of potential responses to an attack and the steps needed to carry it out. A menu of sorts. Clearly the most consequential action a president can take.

For the entirety of his presidency Biden’s detractors have made fun of, or at least made reference to, his age and lack of mental acuity. Captain Applesauce, Pudding Brain, the ice cream president, etc… Watching the Oval Office address last night it was abundantly clear that the man is in trouble from a health perspective. Mumbling, loud swallowing, difficulty reading the teleprompter, and a clear inability to modulate his voice. He drifts from low and hard to hear to loud with sudden verbal emphasis in odd places. There’s something wrong. Add to that his obvious moments of confusion when he’s out and about with every staff member holding their collective breath when he has to navigate stairs or cross a large open space – he’s an elderly adult with Parkinsons and some level of related dementia.

Whatever. All we have to do is coast for six more months and someone with at least some level of mental acuity will be in charge, right? Here’s my thought experiment. There’s been a number of campaign activities lately in which staff members had to hand the president cash and instruct him how/who to tip during the staged visit. He has to be constantly redirected as to where he’s supposed to be looking and interacting with. What makes you think he’s able to dress each morning and ensure he has the biscuit with him before he leaves the private residence? What would happen if, god forbid, an incident happened and he needed to produce the biscuit and make launch decisions in response to an attack?

It’s happened before. Buzz Patterson carried the nuclear football for Clinton and wrote about that time in his book. He shared that during a routine check, it came out that Clinton had “misplaced” the launch codes. Obviously it’s a big deal as new codes need to be created and distributed to every nuclear launch platform – planes, submarines, and land based launchers. They never found the card with the codes. Clinton had all his mental faculties, he just had his mind on… well other things.

I wonder how often they check to see that the president has the biscuit? The person carrying the nuclear football is literally feet away from the president at all times. He/she sees everything that happens and clearly is the single best person to make a judgement call about the presidents fitness for office. I think there’s an interesting question around this. As a military officer (there’s one from each branch of service that rotate carrying the football) what legal obligation do they have to say something about the fitness of their superior officer to continue to serve? Who and how would they report that to?

It’s one thing from a political perspective for presidential aids and staff to ignore or cover for a president in decline. It’s entirely another thing for a group of senior military officers to ignore what they see. I wonder, do they feel the president is fully capable of continuing in his role or are they being quiet for career security? It would obviously be career suicide to say something. In reading Buzz Pattersons book it’s clear that these officers take their duty very seriously. I can’t imagine what goes through their minds each day they interact with the president.

It’s all terribly frightening if you think about it. The president has six minutes from a confirmed nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile launch towards the US to make a decision. I guess we’ll rely on Dr. Jill to fill in for the next six months.

Anyway, have a happy Thursday!

Government, Politics

You Can’t Handle The Truth

First off I have to confess to liking a good conspiracy theory. I can sport a tinfoil hat with the best of them. And you have to admit that this last week has provided a plethora of deep state, unknown force theories all working to undermine our country. The last few days I haven’t been able to refresh my X/Twitter feed fast enough. Approximately every five minutes I’ve been shouting down the hall to Mrs Troutdog the latest news. “OMG won’t believe this – the shooters cell phone had three phone calls from Vladimir Zelensky!” “You won’t believe this – Biden actually died in Vegas and Obama has been coordinating the plan to dump Kamala and get Newsom elected!” You get the idea. But upon reflection this morning… I don’t think any of this is a “conspiracy”.

While I enjoy intrigue, I’m also a realist. You know, that whole Occam’s razor thing. All things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually correct. The more I think about all the recent happenings, there’s one common thread. Incompetence.

Government generally speaking is incredibly incompetent. Usually laughably so. The incompetence increases the further away you get from local government. By the time you reach the federal government, an inability to manage the simplest of tasks is rampant. Throw in greed, corruption, naked ambition, stupidity, and the bubble of Washington, and you have the perfect recipe for the incompetent blog that characterizes much of government.

This is how California has a high speed rail project that’s been going for 15 years, has built virtually nothing, will cost $150 billion, and isn’t projected to finish for at least another decade. Or how the Biden administration “invested” $7.5 billion on EV chargers and has only built 7 of them. Or how we fucked up the Afghanistan withdrawal. Or the Covid response. At the local level it took my town more than six months to get a dashboard/tracking website up for Covid cases. This was the ENTIRE MISSION OF THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT and they weren’t ready. You had one job, be ready for a pandemic event, and you failed completely. The examples are endless. This is government at its finest.

So now when I reflect upon the (many) events of the last weeks, I’m seeing them through the lens of government. I think it’s a cascading series of events that are trying to be managed by incompetent people. Was it a conspiracy to hide multiple shooters paid for by George Soros at the Trump assassination attempt? No, I suspect it was incompetent DEI leadership, lowered performance standards, and laziness that allowed the typical lone wackjob shooter to nearly succeed. Everything else is a collective rush by everyone to cover their butts. Hide behind lawyers, the DOJ, stall, blame “the ongoing investigation”, throw a few local Barney Fife types under the bus, and by the time Kamala is president it’ll be forgotten. You really think anyone in government is actually capable of keeping a secret? Hell, the Secret Service Directors full statement was just “leaked” to the press before she could give it to congress. Leaking is how Washington works.

The Biden drop-out issue? I think in reality this has been in motion for a while. The DNC simply had no idea what to do. Biden didn’t want to go and nobody wanted Kamala for fear she couldn’t win. Finally with the horrible debate performance, the donors started getting cold feet and that was enough for the big players to pressure Jill and Hunter to convince him to drop out. Everything since then has been nothing more than a scramble to figure out how to message this and how to handle the Kamala scenario. Realistically there was probably no way the DEI wing of the party was going to let the first female VP be passed over. Considering Kamala has been the abortion czar and that’s 1/3 of their party platform, the optics wouldn’t have been great had they removed her.

So that’s it. Stupid, power hungry people, desperate to cover their butts, all jockeying to be in the best position possible when the dust settles. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that. I mean my god, have you seen the picture of Biden’s speechwriting team? Nothing but college interns and gender studies graduates. It’s frightening to think these are the people shaping the messaging of the most powerful country in the world. It actually goes a long way to explain much of the past four years.

I think it’s time to put away the tinfoil hats and crazy theories about a new world order orchestrated by the UN and the WEF. Obama, Hillary, and Pelosi aren’t pulling any strings behind the scenes other than trying to figure out how to make their stock portfolios grow. The CIA isn’t planning the next Bird Flu pandemic to disrupt the election. And the FBI is too busy working with the DOJ to arrest more of those evil J6’rs to be involved in anything more sinister. So just check those conspiracies at the door and let the process play out. The country likes equilibrium and tends to balance itself out every few elections. It may look a little messy, but I guarantee all will be status quo given a bit of time.

LOL, just kidding. Nothing adds up and there is shit being covered up at the highest levels in all agencies. There’s been a glitch in the Matrix and the system is scrambling to regain control. And the closer we get to the bad orange man regaining the presidency… the more desperate the state will get. Buckle up buttercup, it’s about to get weird.