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 512/21

After an absence of a long time, I am all set to return.  But it is early in the day today and I have not finished breakfast yet so I will return and hope you do so also.  Bye for now.

Sensible ideas from Jesse Ventura

This is not the latest video from Jesse but there are very important things to consider here:

Jesse Ventura on Democracy

The dum dumpy Trump

Hope I can survive this coming week but if things turn out bad on election day, I don't know what I will do with myself.  The stupidity of Trump knows no bounds as he says he can sign an executive order to deny birthright citizenship.  Even members of his own party do not agree with him on this point.  He also says that if Democrats regain control of Congress, a lot of people will lose money.  Hey, you guys are in charge and the stock market has been terrible the past two weeks and I am losing money NOW.  Also, Trump's trade tariffs are making a bigger mess of things and long term recovery will be impossible with those in place.  

Then here in San Francisco we have a huge problem with homelessness.   Now Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, is pouring millions of dollars of his own money into the Yes on C measure which will give the city more money to spend on homeless programs.  Hey guys, the welcome mat is out and homeless people around the country know they should come here where the weather is not that bad (certainly no snow or freezing weather) and getting rousted by the cops is less likely to happen here than in most cities.  Yes, the homeless need help but with the proper controls in place.   I think benefits should be limited to Bay Area people, not people who just arrived from Ames, Iowa or wherever.  Also, the mentally ill must required to undergo treatment, not a slap on the wrist after receiving a few pills. Too often people here will say "oh no,  you can't do that,  you can't force them into programs".  That is plain B.S.  That is what State Hospitals are for.  Oh wait a minute, I forgot.  Reagan closed those as governor and then gutted mental health programs as president.  Oy vey!

I hope we can get some sensible people in Congress before it is too late as this country is going down the tubes and fast.  The next president will need to make this country great again as this one is ruining it.  

It grows late as I write this and I am beginning to think a vodka/tonic might be needed before retiring so BFN.

Violence in America

Life is full of uncertainties.  Two well known ones are weather forecasting and psychology.  Who can predict with certainly that it will or won't rain tomorrow?  Who can predict with certainty that a neighbor is a maniac who harbors evil thoughts about his neighbors and will act upon his impulses.  Some say gun control is the answer to violence in this country.  It is really only part of the problem.  While it is true that no private citizen need possess a weapon of war such as an AR-15, what are you to do about those who would find other methods of mass destruction such as home made bombs or the automobile or truck driven into a crowd of people.  As they say, if there is a will there is a way.  What this country needs is to do is modify the First Amendment, stand up to the NRA and get weapons of war out of the hands of private citizens.  We must also put much more money into mental health care in all its  myriad forms from simple clinics to state hospitals.  This country needs to get serious about the problem and finding politicians with the guts to do what is right before we all get mowed down in churches, synagogues, movie theaters, schools, night clubs, and rock concerts.

Time for removal from office.

Today Trump has given "aid and comfort" to the enemy (Russia) by his outrageous statements in Finland and needs to be removed from office ASAP.  He can no longer be allowed to embarrass this country and weaken it.  Congress needs to do its duty and take up the 25th Amendment or Impeachment proceedings.

Money, money, money
15 July 2018

Wish I had more but that is not why I am writing this.  I am concerned about US coinage.  There have been several attempts at creating a usable silver dollar. The earliest, in Nevada, had wide spread use for a while and having spent some of my earliest days in Reno, I had use of those silver dollars, also known as “cartwheels” since there were so big. In fact, I used to carry around so many of them that there were constantly wearing holes in the pockets of my jeans.

Fast forward a few years now to the abortive attempt at a smaller coin.  Unfortunately, it was almost as small as a quarter and people kept getting them confused.  Next up – the Golden Dollar.  Same size but the gold color, or so it was thought, would do the trick and people would not get confused.  Unfortunately, in this country people seem to get confused easily and wouldn’t really look at the coin(s) they were using to pay for something.  So, while they are still minted, they are difficult to come by.  I prefer the coin to the paper dollar, so I have a suggestion.  The fifty-cent peace is now even a rarer coin, so I would suggest to the mint that if they are still minting them that they stop and create a new dollar coin the size of the old fifty-cent piece.  There shouldn’t be any more confusion about coin size or denomination.  There might be one other problem however.  The cash registers that merchants use may only have slots for pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.  If there is a fifth slot they probably utilize it for the coin denomination most frequently used.

This is so silly. The constant printing of paper dollars costs the US Mint more than it would to mint longer lasting dollar coins. As for merchants, well, there is probably no hope there although merchants of old did handle fifty-cent pieces on a regular basis so why can’t they do it now?

Life on a failing planet

14 July 2018

Oh, what a messed-up country and world we live in.  Our man-child insulter of all President is doing the opposite of what he said he would do during his campaign: MAKE AMERICA GREAT.  To which I have always asked, why, what’s wrong with it now?  Of course, nothing, however he is making such a mess of it now that the next person running for that office will have to say, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.  The Donald has taken his realty TV shows to a whole new bargain basement level and put down anyone and everyone who disagrees with him and gets in his way, not only in this country, but internationally also. And why, does he cozy up to such people is Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, and Rodrigo Duterte.  I am surprised he does not have a swastika flag hanging somewhere in the White House or perhaps he does but just in his personal closet.

Listening to and watching the news on TV used to be one of my favorite activities as I have always been interested in current events and also find history to be of interest. These days however, it depresses me too much and I can OD very quickly on what I see and hear.  So I stick with local news and am sometimes amused by what happens in Silly Hall as Chronicle columnist Herb Caen used to call City Hall here in San Francisco.

When parents abuse, or even worse, kill their children, words fail me as to how I feel.  One such incident fairly recently were the parents in Arizona I believe who kept their children locked in the house, chained to beds and other objects, starved them,  and committed other unspeakable acts until one courageous girl escaped and sought help.  What is wrong with people?   Are they all on drugs?  The many outrageous acts puzzle me.  

Gun violence is another abhorrent act in this country and the NRA is getting away with murder, literally.   What is wrong with them?  Why do they continually misinterpret the First Amendment?  We have a well-regulated militia and it is known as the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force.  The militia supported by the NRA is unregulated and this sort of makes me wonder if they have declared war on the USA and hope there will be another Civil War. They certainly believe that some people have declared war on them and want to take away their guns. I don’t but why the hell does a private citizen need an AR-15 assault rifle anyway.  Certainly not to hunt unless you are intent on creating lead infused ground beef.

I can only hope that everyone who can vote will get out this November and do so.  Our country and our world depend on it.

BFN