Category: Government

Government

They Know Everything

Way back in my tech heyday, I felt like I was pretty savvy. I had a good handle on most things tech. When I changed careers, I started losing touch with the latest and greatest goings on in the tech world. Now, I barely pay attention. So when I had to sign this years tax return electronically, I was taken aback at the verification questions I was asked. How do they know that? Clearly everything in your life is now online and available.

If you haven’t experienced this yet, the IRS and DocuSign use something called Knowledge Based Authentication to validate who you are. You’re asked a series of questions about your life. For me it was things like a car, an address, and a corporation. But not just simple associations… a question like, “have you ever been associated with one of these addresses?” Here’s the kicker – it was a former address of a family member in another state. It also asked me “Have you ever owned one of the following vehicles?” One of them was a car I owned in 1996.

I don’t know why this caught me off guard. We’re so used to the electronic world we don’t think about the ramifications anymore. It feels anonymous when we’re online. But in reality, the state knows everything about you. Everything you’ve ever purchased, searched for, and people you’ve interacted with. They’re using marketing data, credit reports, and transaction histories to create a profile of you. As the old saying goes, if you’re not paying for a product or service, then YOU are the product. Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc…

But who cares? If they want to gather info to create better advertising, fine by me. I’d rather see ads for mountain bikes than feminine hygiene products, right? (yes, I know women ride mountain bikes) If only it was that innocent. Time to get your tinfoil hats on folks…

If it was that simple to figure out something I’d purchased way back in 1996, what else could be done with that information? Here’s a (true) scenario – this past summer in the little town next door (population 517), there was a horrific murder. A motel guest snapped after being asked by the owner of the motel to stop doing something. The guest grabbed a gun, marched into the front office and shot the owner and his wife.

Now imagine if the government or a big tech company offered hotels a program that used Knowledge Based Authentication to make an instant evaluation when someone is checking in. Spent some time in a psychiatric facility? Sorry, not going to be able to rent you a room today. Seems like it would be in everyone’s best interest, right? Who wouldn’t want to be able to keep a potential nutjob from checking in? It’s for your own good.

Now sprinkle in a little of this newfangled AI that’s making news… and this fancy new program may decide a meme you posted in ’21 a little offensive. No hotel for you. You went to a strip club during your bachelor party in 1998? Sorry, we can’t approve this home loan. You drove over 12,000 miles in one year? Unfortunately, you no longer qualify to purchase a gasoline vehicle – only electric vehicles for you.

You think that’s silly? PayPal’s current terms of service agreement says they can fine you $2,500 if you violate their “acceptable use” policy. Shopify, Chase Bank, and Facebook shut down a popular YouTuber’s account overnight, destroying his business, because he was deemed to be putting out “prepper” content (he wasn’t). The Twitter files revealed that all the government intelligence services have a direct, online portal to every major social media platform. Credit card companies are now categorizing gun and ammo purchases separately (previously they were lumped in under “sporting goods”), allowing the government (or anyone who purchases that information) to know exactly who’s buying what.

The social credit system is a freight train barreling down the tracks at us… and we have no idea it’s coming. Just like the Patriot Act, AI/Knowledge Based Authentication will be forced on us “for our own safety”. It’s all good – until the system decides YOU did something that goes against the rules. Every single thing you’ve ever written, posted, or purchased will be analyzed. Every picture you’ve taken (posted or not), every single store you’ve visited, every trip you’ve made – all fair game. That fitness tracker that’s recording your blood pressure and heart rate? So sorry, your health profile doesn’t allow you to order from Mcdonalds. It’s for your own good.

Welcome to the new world. There’s no way to erase your past.

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”

– Benjamin Franklin

Government

They Deserve Your Scorn

Scorn noun “open dislike and disrespect or mockery often mixed with indignation”

It’s shocking to me that this even needs to be said. We’re a nation of mindless sheep, who somewhere along the way lost the narrative. We lost the point of this whole experiment. We’d be on a path of healing if you could just remember one thing:

“You do not owe any allegiance to a politician.”

In fact, it’s quite the opposite… they work for you. You elected them to represent you. They’re not better than you. They’re not more important than you. They shouldn’t be treated like celebrities or rock stars. They should be proving to you every day that they are worthy of keeping the job. And after a term or two, they should be exhausted and ready to return back to a regular job. Be suspicious of anyone who isn’t.

We forgot the basic litmus test for a politician:

  • Are my streets safe?
  • Have my taxes gone down?
  • Is the basic infrastructure in my city/state getting better?
  • Is my cost of living improving?
  • Am I more free today than I was yesterday?
  • Are we safer and stronger than our foreign adversaries?

  • And perhaps most importantly… is the size of the government shrinking?

Not much else really matters. Until the answer to all those questions is yes, whatever daily outrage you have on social media about trivial crap makes no difference. And if the answer to one of those questions is no, the proper question of your local/state/federal politician should be, “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?”

Not words. Not speeches on the floor that nobody will see. Not ads on TV. Not pithy statements on Twitter. Actions. What action Mr./Mrs. politician are you taking to solve the problem? Not “we’re introducing legislation next year”. Right now – what are you doing about it? And if you’re not happy with the actions, fire them. Get someone new in there who might do something. Rinse, repeat.

Politicians don’t think they work for you anymore. Whatever office they hold, it’s a steppingstone to the next higher office and more lobbyist money. Every single action they take is geared towards fundraising and staged optics to drive a narrative. All of them. Without exception. It’s a career. They’re carnival grifters looking to fleece as much money and power as possible. All of them. Period.

Oh sure, at the small-town local level there’s some folks who legitimately ran for office because they wanted a new crosswalk in front of the school or to stop a big corporation from polluting the local stream. But it doesn’t take long for power to corrupt. The pandemic quickly exposed how quickly little local bureaucrats became dictators and wielded their power with a heavy hand. How many politicians in your town were fighting for small businesses and questioning the idea of shutting down the economy or forcing vaccines to enter public spaces?

People forget that government, at all levels, is a semi-autonomous borg that mostly runs itself. Left to its own devices, it will continue to grow. People naturally want to protect and expand their jobs. Their departments will always need more money, more staff, and more power. It’s human nature. The private sector is no different. But the private sector is accountable to shareholders and payroll. Don’t meet expectations or can’t pay the rent and people eventually get fired, laid off, or the business goes under. The equation balances itself. The same is not true of government. There is no natural check on growth in the public sector.

We elect representatives to be that accountability monitor. They’re seizing our money (taxes) by force. Via printing and spending they control the value of our dollar. We have a right to expect them to be good stewards of that money and our economy. And if they’re not… we have a right, a duty, to be angry. And we’ve forgotten that. We’ve been taught a Pavlovian response – always blame the other party. It’s always the other guys fault. No! It’s your representatives fault. Hold them accountable. Stop the stupid party vs. party nonsense. That game is rigged to deflect blame and create more fundraising. If your elected official is failing the basic litmus test, then fire them.

I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on. Stop the stupid party allegiance. I don’t care what the pundit on whatever clickbait news channel you watch says. You have a responsibility to be extremely critical of all politicians. Don’t ignore the flaws of your politician simply because you hate the other guy more. Don’t settle.

It’s your money. It’s your freedom. You are giving someone the responsibility to represent your voice in this republic. Be angry, be demanding, and be critical. The status quo is not your friend. Like fish and guests who stay too long… ALL politicians quickly begin to stink. Throw ’em out before that happens.

Government

It’s A Lie

They are lying to us. No, not about Chinese spy balloons/UFO’s. (Klaatu Barada Nikto. If you know, you know) Although they may be lying about that as well, that is not the focus of today’s rant. This will be my annual post about Social Security. During the State of the Union, there was a bit of a dust-up about cuts to social security. Apparently evil republicans want to eviscerate social security, leaving seniors to die on the street. No we don’t! Yes you do! No we don’t! Yes you do! Sigh. Same old tired argument.

Both sides get away with this ridiculous charade because most folks don’t understand how social security works/worked. Here’s the simplistic overview. You pay 12.4% of your annual wages into social security. 6.2% by you, 6.2% by your employer. Social security was intended to be a “pay as you go” system – collect just enough money each year to cover outlays. But those sneaky devils have been collecting more than they need from the very beginning.

Each year the government collects more in social security taxes than they need to cover payouts. That extra money is “loaned” back to the government (at varying interest rates). This is the Trust Fund (made up of both social security and disability insurance). Also known as the “Lock Box of IOU’s” that Al Gore famously referred to. The Trust Fund currently has roughly $2.9 trillion in assets. Somewhere between this year and about 5 years from now, depending on what figures you use, we will no longer be collecting a surplus in social security taxes. When that happens, we’ll have to start cashing in those notes we loaned to the government’s general fund.

All good, right? Well don’t be shocked, but those rascals in congress gobbled up that extra revenue and spent it as fast as they could go. We’ve been spending like drunken sailors on a three-day-leave for year, after year, after year… so now when the Trust Fund needs its money back – surprise, surprise, surprise! We don’t have it. So now, we’ll have borrow a second time to repay what we already borrowed.

It’s worse than a Madoff/SBF Ponzi scheme. Since we’re already spending (borrowing) about $1.3 trillion more than we take in each year, the odds of reducing federal spending enough to cover payments to social security are pretty slim. Fun times!

So let’s recap. Politicians happily collected $2.9 trillion of your dollars they didn’t need so they could spend it on whatever boondoggle they fancied. Then they kept spending billions and trillions more than they took in every year, adding up to current debt of $31.5 trillion.

Folks, to borrow the quote from the movie Full Metal Jacket – “It’s a huge shit sandwich, and we’re all going to have to take a bite”.

The point of all this to highlight what scum these politicians are. I don’t care what side of the argument they try to make. They can say “we’ll always keep our social security commitments (we’ll just borrow more). The other side might say “we’ll need to reduce benefits to keep the fund solvent”. Either way, they’re not being honest. They spent us into oblivion. They blew through the Trust Fund. They knew they were doing it and ignored the problem for years. Now you lowly peasants get to pay more (either in debt/inflation) or get less (in reduced benefits). Probably both.

The odds of my receiving much in the way of social security benefits is slim. This is despite my paying (by force) into the system my entire adult life. So, excuse me if I have nothing but vile things to say about our elected representatives. If any proposal these folks make don’t also include in the same sentence, massive cuts to discretionary spending…

Well, you can fill in the expletive yourself.

Government

I Don’t Understand

I am not a student of history, geopolitics, or economics. I confess that I have about a 7th grade grasp of world events most of the time. Therefore, I am being sincere when I say that I need someone to explain something to me like I was a child. Speak slowly and in simple language. No platitudes, vague historical references, or moral right vs. wrong inferences. I’m looking for a clear, fact-based argument. Ready?

Why is it in the United States strategic interest to fully fund, arm, and (eventually) defend Ukraine?

What I find when I search on this subject is mostly vague arm waving and teeth gnashing about “we can’t let naked aggression like this go unchecked”, or “if we don’t stop Russia here and push them back, they’ll soon be rolling into Poland”. There’s plenty of moral justifications thrown out – “we can’t stand by and let innocent civilians be slaughtered”, or the WWII reference of “we stood by when Germany began occupying other countries, we can’t let that happen again”. All of those things may be true. But none of them are an argument for why the US needs to be the one to solve it.

This is not a defense of Russia’s actions. For a variety of reasons, Russia made the strategic choice to invade another country. War is awful and never leads to a good outcome for anyone involved. Period. You can hate Russia all you want for their decision… but it doesn’t change the fact that they did it. So, now what?

The US has committed upwards of $60 billion dollars, with future pledges bringing the total to over $100 billion. We’ve depleted our own stockpiles of military hardware so we can send it to Ukraine. We have troops on the ground in-country, we’re providing training, intelligence, targeting, and continue to push the envelope with more and more advanced military technology. We seem to be doing everything possible to poke the Russian bear and provoke an escalation. Why? Why is all this in our interest?

So back to my child-like questions:

  • Ukraine is not a NATO member, nor has it been a historical ally. Why does the US need to be the one to defend them?
  • Russia has not attacked a fellow NATO member, so you can’t claim we’re fulfilling our article 5 duties. Why are we there?
  • If the European countries are feeling threatened… shouldn’t that be primarily a European problem to solve?
  • Given that any future threat is to Europe, shouldn’t the vast majority of aid be coming from European countries?
  • Given that we’re $32+ trillion in debt and have a whole host of issues of our own to solve, we do we need to be sending $100 billion to Ukraine?
  • We just ended (badly) a 20-year war that cost us $5+ trillion. Why do we need to engage in another war?
  • And finally… how is it in our strategic interests to provoke Russia to the brink of a nuclear exchange?

Here’s something nobody wants to talk about. Without US support, Russia would have pretty quickly taken a large portion of Ukrainian territory. Whether that is good or bad is subject for another discussion. Regardless, we enabled Ukraine to push back sufficiently enough that this war will now go on for a very long time. No matter who wins, the end outcome will be that Ukraine will be left a smoking heap of ash. There will be nothing left. Its infrastructure will be completely destroyed. Its agricultural, drilling, and mining exports are already gone. As we approach spring, Russia will accelerate its targeting of all power infrastructure, water, sewer, and industrial capacity. They will turn Ukraine into a wasteland and force a mass exodus of refugees. Whatever is left of the population will be facing actual famine. That’s reality.

Do you really think Russia is suddenly going to say, “whoops, my bad. Sorry about that”. Is Russia going to decide tomorrow to just pull back with its tail between its legs? Doubtful. The US has done everything possible to accelerate and prolong this war. Now what? When Russia sends 300,000 troops over the border this summer, what are we going to do? Ukraine is rapidly running out of fighting age males to throw at the problem. This is why they need more and more advanced battlefield tools – they can no longer win with just infantry. Are US ground troops and air cover next?

If Russia loses a couple hundred thousand troops by next fall, don’t you think battlefield nukes are a realistic option for them? Then what do we do?

None of this makes sense to me. I really need someone to explain to me in simple terms, why it is in the United States strategic interest to own this mess?

P.S. The actual answer to all of this of course, is the military industrial complex. We want to sell weapons. That’s it. It’s that simple. Sorry.

Government

It’s A Conspiracy

Over this past Christmas break, we traveled to a warmer climate to visit the in-laws. It was a lovely trip, but spending time with my in-laws is, well, unique. Think the Costanzas from Seinfeld and you’ll have a pretty good picture of the experience. They’re getting older, so things tend to move at a glacial pace. You’d think I’d have figured this out by now, but for some reason I’m always baffled as to why we can’t get out of the house before 2pm. And you have to be back to the house by 4pm so you can take naps before dinner. Anyway, the end result is that I have plenty of time sitting around the pool… waiting.

To fill my time this trip, I read. I actually lost track of how many books I finished (there was a lot of waiting). Part of the reason I read so many books, is that I went down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. Now I love me a good conspiracy theory. There’s just something about challenging conventional wisdom that appeals to the Contrarian in me.

But to be a good conspiracy theory, it can’t be too wacky. Chemtrails and birds aren’t real are too far-fetched. No, the theory needs to be outside of mainstream thinking, but have just enough facts rooted in reality to make you go “hmmm”. You don’t want to believe, but something in the narrative is just enough that you begin to doubt what you’ve been told.

I started my journey with the Kennedy assassination. First off, it’s weird that the government won’t declassify anything other than rehashed Warren commission stuff. That by itself is enough to make you go “hmmm”. The more I read, I’d think “no, that couldn’t be”. I’d do a little independent research and sure enough a certain person was verifiably there or involved in some way. It was an awesome trip down a weird rabbit hole. And you know it was a good conspiracy theory when you then start thinking, well if that could have happened, what else could be covered up? Boom. Next thing you know I’m four books into big brother controlling my thoughts and the CCP monitoring my activities through my smart refrigerator. I loved it!

Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory. That’s why we’re so susceptible to ads and YouTube thumbnails that start with “Nobody knows this one trick to…” or “The secret Costco price strategy…” and “Lose weight by eating this little-known food…” We all want to be in on the secret.

But after my multi-day reading frenzy, I don’t know if I want to learn about any more conspiracies. Because if they’re even partially true – it’s disturbing, and kind of depressing. I WANT to believe that the world is fair and that everyone plays by the rules. I want to believe that evil cabals only exist in the movies. Otherwise, it means that us little guys are suckers and just pawns in a game that’s rigged.

I think it’s time for me to step away from the conspiracy theory genre. Maybe I’ll go find a good spy thriller or a whodunit mystery. Meanwhile, you’ll have to excuse me for a bit – I need to cover all the cameras and speakers in my house with black tape. With the research I did, I’m positive I’m now on some sort of government watch-list. Should I suddenly disappear, please know that I have no desire to Epstein or Mcafee myself.

P.S. birds aren’t real

Government, woke

Did He Just Say That?

Something just happened that has left me literally shaking. I… I, I’m going to try and pull myself together so I can share this outrage. There’s this football guy, Troy Aikman who I’m told was a pretty good quarterback at one time, who’s now a TV broadcaster. Well, I guess football has gotten really mean and unsafe lately, so the referees have been over-reacting and calling “roughing” penalties that are a bit controversial. After one such call, Aikman said this: “My hope is the competition committee looks at this in the next set of meetings and, you know, we take the dresses off”.

I am offended to my core. To insult women like that is so… so… I don’t even know. Let me compose myself. <deep calming sigh> Rightly, there was an immediate outcry and Aikman issued a statement apologizing for making a “dumb remark”. Sorry, not good enough. He needs to be cancelled. These dinosaurs, these symbols of the old, white, patriarchy must be destroyed. We cannot let misogynists like this remain in positions of influence.

[End Sarcasm] This is now us as a society. Perpetual outrage mode. Thousands of soy-boys and flotillas of Karens, all just waiting to pounce on whatever they perceive as the latest offensive comment or action. And their intention is never to just point out the offense and offer education – no, they want to cancel and destroy the offender. They want society to live in fear of wrongspeak.

And they’re wining. Look at Troy Aikman. Rather than simply laughing at it and telling these folks to go pound sand and return to their weird Disney cosplay conventions and video games, he caved. He gave in to the mob and apologized rather than risk being cancelled.

That is not a good place for a society to be in. The world economy is cratering. Government spending, overreach, and oppression is expanding at a frightening rate. The lunatic left is doing everything possible to foment racial wedges in every aspect of life. Right now, if you don’t bend the knee to the official narrative you’re either a racist, a Russian apologist, or eagerly awaiting a Gilead-style Handmaidens Tale remake of the world. Probably all three.

Because of cancel culture, who’s going to be brave enough to say no to these lunatics? If you dare say that men should not be competing in women’s sports, some Antifa, nose ring wearing thug will appear with spittle flying out of their mouth and shriek “racist!!!” at you. You’ll be removed from social media and risk losing your job. Because, after all, you did take the mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion training, so you were aware of the corporate policy against hate and misgendering someone.

I honestly don’t know where we go from here. A self-reflective analysis might be appropriate:

  • Do you have a Ukraine flag in your profile? (and you’re not Ukrainian)
  • Did you post a black square on Instagram and/or post any BLM propaganda?
  • Did you read the previous item and think, OMG that’s so racist?
  • Did you ever lecture/shame people on social media for not getting the vaccine?
  • Did you ever look at people with disdain who weren’t wearing masks?
  • Do you still wear a mask? Alone, in your car?
  • Do you list your pronouns in your bio?
  • Is your main source of news CNN and The View?
  • Do you refer to Jan 6th as an insurrection? Do you eagerly await news that Trump has been arrested?
  • Do you drive an electric vehicle because you care about the environment?
  • Does the term “illegal alien” horrify you?
  • Do you order your coffee at Starbucks with more than two ingredients?

If you answered yes to any of the above… I hate to break it to ‘ya cupcake – but YOU are the problem. Your faux tolerance and empathy are destroying this country. I could care less if you think there are 27 genders and why wouldn’t we keep giving money to Ukraine? More power to you. Just realize there are people who have opinions that are different than you. Trying to cancel people because they don’t think like you is dangerous and wrong.

We keep down this road and The Ministry of Truth will eventually govern everything. The crime of wrongspeak is serious business kids. Go to wrongspeak/us.gov to report family members and neighbors who you suspect are committing these heinous crimes. Your government thanks you for your cooperation.

Daily Life, Government, Solving the wrong problem

Responsibility And Lawn Darts

Reportedly the Alzheimer’s patient occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave will come out of hiding today and return to the White House to announce an executive action canceling student loan debt. What’s being reported is that $10,000 of debt will be evaporated for anyone who earns less than $120,000. It’s hard to describe how angry this makes me.

I feel like a chump. It’s that feeling when you pay full retail and then find out you could have had that same thing 30% off if you’d gone down the street and negotiated. Why-oh-why did I work and self-pay for school? All those folks who went into the military so they could go to college? Suckers. It’s the ultimate Fuck You to anyone who tried to be responsible and minimize the debt they took on.

It was a loan. You saw the terms. You saw the interest rate. You understood it was a legal contract you were signing. Of your own free will you acted like an adult and penned your John Hancock on the dotted line. My sympathy level for anyone who has massive student debt is exactly, ZERO. You made choices. I sincerely hope those choices resulted in a well-paying job. If so, then you made a wise decision. It also means you can afford to pay those loans back. If you have a low paying job and massive student loans… then you made a poor decision. That sucks. It’s also the way life works. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. You’re going to have to take on a second job and work your ass off to get ahead. That was the way this was supposed to work. So sorry, you may have to cut back on your soy lattes and make do with an older smartphone.

Clearly, I grew up in a different era. We were sent out to play after school on our own. The only requirement was to be home in time for dinner. Parents had zero idea where we were. We had to invent our own games and fun. There were no structured play dates or facilitated games with ten helicopter parents hovering over us at all times. I’d highly recommend reading this essay on how important it was (is) to foster the level of independence and learning we had as kids. And how much harm we’ve done to our kids today. We’ve created an entire generation of child-adults who expect to be protected from everything and for mom and dad (government) to bail them out of any situation or poor decisions.

So now we’ve decided to take a break from shipping billions of dollars to Ukraine, so we can print another 300 billion for kids who made poor financial choices. Because it’s not like increasing the money supply has anything to do with inflation. I’m sure there’s no possibility my taxes will go up to pay for the increased debt. Yeah, right.

With an unlimited money supply in the form of federal student loans, university tuition will only continue to skyrocket. Why not? They have no skin in the game. I’ll have to pay for that in the form of higher taxes, increased inflation, and responsible kids who don’t want to take on debt being priced out of higher education.

Can someone, anyone, please explain to me – in simple terms I’ll understand – why I need to pay for your financial obligation? And why I can’t get a refund for the same amount that I stupidly chose to self-pay? Anyone? How is that right or fair? I thought this generation was all about fairness?

While I wait for an answer, I’m going to head out for a solo motorcycle ride in the mountains. Because I wasn’t coddled as a kid on padded playgrounds and forced play dates. I had lawn darts. I am comfortable assessing risk and living with the decisions (good or bad) that I make.

Daily Life, Government, Politics

Are You Better Off?

I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon on Facebook. I had to put up with about five plus years of non-stop wailing and gnashing of teeth when the bad orange man was running, in office, and immediately post-election (INSURRECTION!). Virtually every day one of the liberal/democratic folks on my feed would post something about how horrible Trump was and/or how ashamed of the country they were. Day after day. Every word he uttered or tweeted was mocked and pointed to as an example of disaster and impending doom. If you engaged with or disagreed with these folks, you were quickly shouted down as a MAGA loving, xenophobic, right-wing extremist.

But the last year… radio silence. Crickets chirping. Oh, there were a few things posted after the Roe decision and the start of the Ukraine war but for the most part very little political content shows up. Why is that? Inflation hit 9.1% today (probably more like 12%-15% realistically). Not a single mention of it from the left leaning side of my feed. Isn’t that curious? Did the entire left suddenly decide they were no longer interested in politics?

Let me ask an honest question. If you trend more towards the left side of the spectrum, can you point to something the current administration has done that you’d consider a success? What have they done that’s gone well? Are you better off now than you were during the previous administration?

I’m doing my best to be objective, but I can’t point to one thing the administration has done that has moved the country in a better direction. Not one. Literally every single thing that affects the average person in this country has gotten worse. The economy, prices, supply chain, the border… it’s all bad. And don’t get me started on global/foreign engagements. This administration is, to be blunt, a clusterfuck of epic proportions.

Mrs. Troutdog actually asked the other day if we should stock up on food due to the looming food shortages. It now costs me $130 bucks to fill up my truck. Replacement parts for the motorcycle and some construction materials either can’t be found or are on indefinite backorder. The market and our retirement account have taken a hit that will take years to crawl back from. Is this really Build Back Better?

My point is not to claim the right side of the isle is better. 90% of them are as useless as tits on a bull. The bulk of the left and right are a giant uni-party. While I liked many of the things the bad orange man “said”, he was a horrible judge of character whose massive ego led him to spending most of his time in petty twitter spats rather than following through with campaign promises (see, border wall). When the R’s take back congress, I have little faith anything of substance will change. More arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

So, the point… if you were one of the left-leaning folks shit posting bad orange man memes as fast as you could go, why the silence now? Why aren’t you publicly praising the daily actions of the President? Is it that you’re now embarrassed by your political choice? There must be something you can point to and say, “whew, thank God Biden is President”. Isn’t there?

Maybe, just maybe, the takeaway from this period will be a realization that blind partisanship is stupid. Following your party like a lemming leads to… well, where we are today. A barely functioning grandpa propped up and controlled by unknown and unseen forces behind the curtains. But hey, no mean tweets right?

Now, more than ever, it’s time to join the church of Contrarianism. Become a Contrarian. Question everything. Dump your party loyalties. Trust me, they don’t care about you. It’s a hard thing to really examine your opinions, do some actual research, and admit you’ve been duped. It’s a little painful, but just ripping off the Band-Aid is really the best medicine.

Because if we don’t become an army of Contrarians soon… I fear the lemmings are going to reach the edge of the cliff sooner rather than later.

Daily Life, Government, Health, Politics

I Might Be A Viking
  • We’ve been watching the Netflix/BBC series “The Last Kingdom“. It’s pretty good, and worth the watch if you haven’t seen it. Similar to Peaky Blinders, watching with captions turned on is recommended due to the heavy English accents. I joked after one of the episodes that, being of Swedish ancestry, I might actually be a Viking. Mrs Troutdog walked away laughing. I was a little hurt. My family is from Sweden. As a young lad I spent my time surfing, sailing, and scuba diving. I love the snow and embrace the cold winter sports. Those things pretty much define what we think of as characteristics of the proud Norse people, right? I did a little bit of reading, and it turns out that the Vikings weren’t very nice people. Raiding and pillaging villages, taking people as slaves, and other unmentionable acts were pretty much the hallmarks of a Viking visit to your hometown. Fearsome warriors, the Vikings occupied much of Europe during their heyday. Ok, I admit I’ll probably never be tossed in the fearsome warrior category. But don’t worry, I can write a scathing email if my back is pushed against the wall. Continuing my extensive research, I stumbled upon a link describing Viking hairstyles. It turns out the “Viking look” is an actual thing right now. Hmmm, I kind of like the look. The problem is that I can’t grow a beard, look terrible with long hair, and Mrs Troutdog would never let me shave the sides of my head. Oh, and that’s probably not a look an old man can pull off anyway (unless you’re a 300-pound powerlifter). Oh well, I don’t really like pickled and salted fish and I’ve never actually been to Sweden. I suppose no radical hairstyle changes are in my future. But deep down, in the dead of winter, I may still have a few small daydreams of being a Viking.

  • Our next Supreme Court Justice, when asked to define what a woman is, replied that she can’t because she’s not a biologist. Her fear of saying anything that goes against the progressive narrative tells you all you need to know about her probable judicial leanings. It doesn’t matter, it’s all political theater anyway.

  • The weather this week will be turning warm. It’ll be in the mid 70’s by the weekend. Glorious warm sun and dry trails. I find myself paralyzed with indecision about what I want to do. Mountain bike? Trail run? Golf? Motorcycle ride? Winter is officially done.

  • Along with warm weather comes… yard work. At the start of winter, I boldly declared that I’m perfectly capable of maintaining the yards and got rid of the gardener. It’ll save us some money and won’t actually take me that much time. Now that time has arrived and as I’m surveying everything that needs to be done… I’m slightly regretting my decision. No matter, I shall rally and become the gardener that I was always meant to be! Stay tuned for frequent garden updates.

  • The Ukraine scenario continues to be awful. It’s horrific to see the suffering. It is a confusing mess in every way imaginable, with no clear or positive outcome. But for all the folks calling for U.S. intervention, you should first define how many American casualties are you willing to accept. How many young men are you willing to let die or be permanently maimed in the name of defending Ukraine? 50? 100? 1,000? More? 100,000 in small tactical nuclear strikes against U.S. bases in Poland or elsewhere? As is clear by the footage we’ve seen, this is not a video game. “Intervention” has consequences. Own up to what you think acceptable losses are – and intervening with zero losses is not a realistic answer.

  • I had jury duty this week. I dutifully drove downtown, parked, and made my way to the courthouse. Checked in, found a hard plastic chair, and began the waiting process. Eventually we were sorted out by red and green badges and lined up by number to proceed into the courtroom. Just before we entered the Jury director came out and said that everyone with a green badge is being dismissed, our case was settled. Hallelujah! Interestingly, in my county you’re still on the hook for the remainder of the week and can still be called in. Fingers crossed for me as I call into the jury selection recording number each night, to find out my fate for the next day.

  • I’ve been seeing a gym trainer twice a week for almost two months now. I’m starting to see progress. My range of motion is improved, balance is better, and core strength is significantly better. For the first time in a long time, I’ve been able to play golf or lift and move heavy patients at work without my back hurting the next day. I’m not quite ready to say I look forward to working out, but I’m actively making sure I don’t miss or find excuses to skip any workout sessions. This is a big change for me. Stay tuned…

Song of the day: Kaskade & Skrillex – Lick It (Official Video)

Government, Politics

Selective Outrage

I apologize. I don’t check my email that often, so I must have missed the memo about Ukraine being one of our oldest and most trusted allies. I confess that a month or so ago I couldn’t have found Ukraine on the map. Suddenly it’s somehow now in our national interest to pour (more) billions of dollars into this country and potentially risk another world war in Europe. I’m sure they’re lovely people (aside from that pesky actual Nazi problem they have). And it’s absolutely heart wrenching to see the apparent indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians. War is awful. Period. Full stop.

But guess what campers, this isn’t the only active war currently going on. Let’s pick one like, hmmm, the Congo. The current hostilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have produced 4.5 million internally displaced persons, 800,000 refugees in other countries, and an estimated death toll of at least three million. Let me repeat that. THREE MILLION DEATHS. This is a country rich in natural resources, which we need. Our greatest real threat, China, is pulling out all stops to control those resources. And the United States does… [crickets chirping].

My point is that it’s odd what conflicts and crisis of the moment reach our attention span. Why is Ukraine any more or less important than the DRC? I don’t pretend to understand either conflict, and neither should you. I do not trust the narrative we’re being fed. Ukraine is a massively corrupt country full of coups, separatists factions, and a puppet regime installed by the United States. The US has been using Ukraine as a stick to keep poking Russia for years. Well… now you’ve woken up the bear. Maybe that’s what we wanted all along? I have no idea and I doubt you do either.

You should ask yourself some questions. Number one, why is paying for and solving this crisis a problem the US needs to manage? This is primarily a European issue. They’re the ones who are dependent on Russian energy supplies. The EU countries have massive GDP’s, economies, and have huge numbers of weapons, planes, and all types of fancy missiles and missile defense stuff. Our European allies need to be front and center in managing and paying for this crisis. If and when they need our help, we can be there. But the US does not need to be the worlds pocketbook and policeman. If you disagree, please explain why we need to take the lead in solving this?

Similar to the first question, why should the US taxpayers fund this war? You do realize we’re now thirty trillion dollars in debt, right? Our economy is poised to crater. There are literally no more checks in the checkbook. Every dollar we give to Ukraine and every weapon system we hand them, was first money we borrowed from China. WE DO NOT HAVE the 14 billion we just authorized to give to Ukraine. We have to borrow that money. Record setting inflation, gas prices, crumbling infrastructure, supply chain issues, and a 150,000 people a month streaming across our border. We have some issues. Please explain why spending billions to give to Ukraine is more important than any of those things? The best that I can tell, the EU has promised a whopping $450 million. Individually, EU countries are giving a smattering of weapons and other goods. If this was such a momentous issue on European soil, wouldn’t you think they’d have a bit more skin in the game? But why should they when they know we’ll pay for it.

As a side note, we give billions to the UN every year. Where are they? What actual purpose do they serve other than to write sternly worded letters? Perhaps we should divert our UN payments to Ukraine.

There are no good answers to any of this. This morning, Ukraine’s president Zelensky gave an impassioned speech to our congress. He invoked the memories of Pearl Harbor and 9/11. He received a standing ovation. I suspect out of fear of appearing to do nothing, our brave representatives will pour more money and aid to Ukraine, further provoking the conflict and increasing the potential of escalation. Do you really think Putin is going to say, “whoops, my bad. I’ll pull out.”? By further arming Ukraine, we’re forcing Putin to take more extreme measures. I fear we’re one mistake or misunderstanding away from another world conflict. Is that really what you want?

Look, I realize I’m sounding all Neville Chamberlain-ish this morning. But the US is not the superpower we once were. We’re broke, and that’s hard to admit. It’s time for US to step aside and let others shoulder the burden for a while. We shouldn’t let social media shame us into something that could rapidly get far worse than we can possibly imagine.

It’s hard to see human suffering. But I doubt any of you have been outraged at the war in the DRC. Why? Admit it, you couldn’t have found Ukraine on a map a month ago. Me either. And you certainly weren’t outraged at (or even know about) the 14,000 killed and 1.5 million people displaced in the Donbass region of Ukraine in 2014. There’s a lot of human suffering going on in the world at any given time and it’s awful to see. But just because CNN is breathlessly promoting this conflict 24×7 doesn’t mean we have to spring into action. It’s time for cooler heads to prevail and for us to sit this one out.

We have a massive economic war looming on the horizon with China. A war that will alter your standard of living. We may very well be wishing we had some of those billions we pissed away, trying to be the good guy, back.