We should be ashamed of ourself. This picture was inserted here to attract your attention; because what we say below is not very nice and the only way to suck you in is to catch your eye with a bit of beauty in this not best of all possible worlds. Now that you’re here you might as well delve in.

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THE EVIDENCE WILL SHOW:

Some Social Psychology studies reveal Liberals and Conservatives have different brain patterns. Unfortunately this got me to thinking…it’s not only Brain Patterns which are different…there might be some physical characteristics…

• I have noticed many people running for political positions this year, running on the Conservative side of the ticket…are way over-weight. There’s a monstrously obese Governor in West Virginia running for Senator…another former Governor of Maryland  – obese as well – running for Senator. Look at that former Governor of New Jersey, the one who tried to run for President. It’s not just Governors. Many people In former President Trump’s advisory positions…Secretaries of State, Press secretaries, and more …obese…The former President himself…obese. Here’s my thought: Maybe there is something about being Conservative which causes one to gain weight. Me? Years ago, when I was leaning towards the right, I was a good deal  heavier than I am now… Since I’ve become WOKE I’ve lost all excess poundage – without taking any wonder anti-diabetes drugs, or running in marathons and the like…Further to the point, look at the current President…look at his press Secretaries…look at his cabinet people…Thin, Thin. Maybe there is a new diet here. Money to be made. Political gains untold. Who knows where this line of thinking will lead?
• But wait! This just in!  More factual analyses on the over-weighted Conservative problem. It turns out it is not just the politicians. Look at much of the physical presentation of the  Conservative opinion & social media stars past and present. We first record it with Rush Lumbaugh. …He could have lost a few pounds. Then Lou Dobbs put on weight. …And remember that Cute Maria Bartiromo who read the market closings years ago?…Then she blew up to an enormity after she became MAGA…Look at that rich but bankrupt Jones fellow, and Bannon…Bannon seems very uncomfortable and can’t ever tuck in his shirt…Tucker was spot on weight when he split the hour with Rachel…but now is going Lumbaughian…Hannity has a heft on him that looks like he might have a stroke right there on air. Whereas, Morning Joe looks like he could do a triathlon and come back on air and wax on about how nice it is not to be a Republican anymore. I’ll bet Alex Wagner could swim a mile.…and so it goes.

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Some quotes:

• “…a despotism under a democracy could see ‘a multitude of men’, uniformly alike, equal, ‘constantly circling for petty pleasures’, unaware of fellow citizens…” -De Tocqueville, 1835
• A problem with Democracies is they tend to vote themselves out of existence.” -De Tocqueville, again
• “In America, the voters will get what they want;  Good and Hard!” – -H.L. Mencken, Mid 1930’s

That’s it for the week. I’m off to the treadmill of life – to shed a pound or two. And a fond “Hello” to Chas-bo, wherever you are…

Look what we found stuck to our front entrance this morning. Is it an Omen? Is it ‘Good News”? What is it? It is a fact, is it not – when, sometimes you are not looking for anything at all…you find the strangest of things. All you have to do is keep your eyes open.

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SOME THINGS I THINK I’VE LEARNED:

• People (the Voters) are willing and often happy to cut other people’s entitlements; but not their own.
• People in States that have voted down Federal Government Relief fundings are happy to receive it when a Storm breaks in their own land.
• “Your Call Is Important To Us” is  a big lie corporations use as a phone message rather than spend money on someone who could answer the call in the first place.
• No matter how much I try I cannot find anyone who can explain to me: Bitcoins, Quantitative Easing, Trickle Down Economic Success, Data Mining, The voters fascination for Carnival Barkers, Why if “The Evidence shows”…is not good enough for juries, Why – if Fossil Fuels contribute significantly to Climate Change, many voters will vote for a man who will support the “Drill Baby Drill” industry –  as a quid pro quo (or just a ‘quo’) – if that industry will give him a billion dollars …and the list goes on…and on…
• Reading what members of the Fed say about the Economy and the possibility of changing the Interest Rate is a waste of time because they say everything and nothing at the same time and no one can understand what they just said – which was their point, which is to say don’t bother reading what they say in the first place.
• As my life has progressed (or regressed) I notice I have become a bit “WOKE”. “WOKE, WOKE at Last” – I would say. I know the term was originated in the Black South – but it has wandered off site over the years – and can be attributed to anybody who wants to claim it. So. I’ve created a new term: “SLEPT”…SLEPT is what I was, until I moved on to WOKE. Not having been ‘Asleep’ mind you; But SLEPT….sort of a culturated condition imposed upon me by my environment. My new term emanates from the White North, and hopefully will  wander across the land.

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Some quotes:

• “I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you’ve probably misunderstood what I’ve said.” -Alan Greenspan, Fed Chief, 1988
• “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”  –Albert Einstein
• “Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t so.”
  -Lemony Snicket, “The Blank Book”
• “The very character of the people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy tranquility.” -Quoted from “Rip Van Winkle,  a short story by Washington Irving, 1888…referring to his awakening after a 20 year sleep in the woods

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Our Column from MATHUZALA, our Resident Rodent Columnist, will return to this site – as soon as his ‘Catch and Kill’ contract can be legally canceled. MATHUZALA has been well rewarded for not having his ruminations  posted during the past several months. As soon as we get the “All Clear” signal from his lawyer, who is now in jail, we will be free to disseminate his thoughts once again. We have had to do a lot of Quids and Pro Quos to do this – let us tell you.

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That’s all the digits that fits the mind…and a fond “Hello” to Christopher, wherever you are.

 

There was a Flower Festival in our little town yesterday. Sort of our version of a big football game or a Swift type event. People from miles around came and gaped. Makes one dare to think things aren’t so bad, after all. But then I thought I heard an argument break out over by the Calla Lillies…and someone thought there were not enough yellow Roses.

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N.B.: We have decided to break grammatical rules throughout our postings in order to prove our content is not written by the likes of AI.s, Chatbots,  etc. & etc.s

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ODDS WITHOUT ENDS:

• Here’s what I’d like: I’d like the Presidential candidates to take a Rorschach Test. You know, those tests where they show you something that looks like a blood splatter, or a grape that has been stepped on and you are supposed to tell the examiner what it makes you think of. I’ll bet you could decide pretty quick which guy you’d want in the Oval Office if you heard their imaginings.”Person, woman, man, camera, TV” be Goldarned.
• We (the Editorial ‘We”) watch a lot of NEWS and frequently bear witness to interviews which are often very good; but do not ask THE FOLLOW-UP question we wished had been asked. For example, the other day we saw an interview with a former U.S. Attorney General, who also had been a close advisor to the recent Former President. He said what we would consider to be horrible and Goldarning statements about his Former; but in the end he said he would vote for him again anyway…Asked why, he said because he did not like the ‘Progressive Agenda’ of the other side. Our FOLLOW-UP would have been “What do you mean by ‘Progressive Agenda’?” Expecting the worst; it must be horrible, I thought. So I looked it up on the Googler. Here is what I found the un-liked ‘Progressive Agenda’ to be – as far as I can decipher: 1) “Put People Back to Work, Give Workers More Power, and Transform to a Clean Renewable Energy Economy”….and, or 2) “Ensure Health Care for Everyone, Defend and Expand Voting Rights, Strengthen Democracy and End Corruption, Dismantle Racism, White Supremacy and Inequality in All Institutions, End Endless Wars and Invest in Diplomacy and Peace, End Corporate Greed and Corporate Monopolies”…Just so you know which side you are in.
• We read where some Cephalopods (small squids) go transparent to avoid detection – so as not to be eaten – and they can go dark so light will not expose them…they can make these changes in a fraction of a second…and then we read some predators have searchlights which can reflect transparencies……It is all about trying to eat and not be eaten, light and dark and transparencies…it is as it is below, as it is above. Is it not? Watch the news, the trials, the campaigns…you will see what we mean.

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A quote or two:

• “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust!”; Isaih 11:6-7
• “The whole world is suffering from unhappy souls/ The French hate the Germans/ The Germans hate the Poles/ Italians hate Yugoslavs/ South Africans hate the Dutch/…And I don’t like anybody very much” – Song, The Kingston Trio, late 1950’s
• “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (“The more things change, the more they remain the same”) -Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr – mid 1880’s

That’s it for the week…and a fond “Hello” to Morgan & Chris, wherever you are…

 

Much has been made, recently, about the coming of AI and the downfall of man thereby. Fear not, we say. See, above, how smart we are and let the AI’ers weep.

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*The question in the title is a trick question.  You should not be paid anything for your thoughts because AI can now do all the thinking that needs to be done – almost for free. And pretty soon there will be no more pennies, anyway, because there will only be Digicash, and Bitcoin things – whatever they are. (This is not Sci-Fi, nor was it written by AI)

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• Studies show: 3/4s of Americans look at their phones while watching TV. I want to know what the other quarter of Americans are watching while they are watching TV…maybe they are reading books or studying courses for higher learning purposes. Maybe they are watching another TV at the same time. Me? I’m watching that trial in New York on TV, and on my Phone, and listening to it on the radio and I have it on constant feed on my Instagram on my computer…Cannot get enough of it.  I wish they did not take time-out for lunch. I think Doordash could bring it in. I read somewhere most Americans eat something while they watch TV, even if they are watching something else…so maybe we  could eat at the same time as the former President is eating – sort of like having a bonding media experience.
• Do you ever get ads on your Instagram, or wherever, that say if you sit around all day and do nothing all you have to do is ‘click this ad’ (and pay a small amount of money) and learn how to make $5000 a week just by doing nothing? I get these ads frequently. 1) Should I feel insulted that the Algorithms think I sit around and do nothing all day and am a candidate for this kind of ad? 2) Is it possible this is some kind of scam? Can I really make up to $5000 a week by doing almost nothing? 3) Should I pay $99 to see if I might be missing out of the chance of a lifetime? 4) The ointment I bought (because of a convincing ad)  to clear up my brain-fog has not worked yet; but it tastes good…so not all these ads are total scams are they? 5) Has the Consumer Protection Agency discovered the internet yet?
• I read the Voyager 1 is 15 billion miles out there and after 5 months of silence is sending back communications. No one is telling me what Voyager 1 is saying 1) Could it be saying things are nice out there? 2) Does it want to come back? 3) Why are we not told what it is saying? Is there a problem? If we knew what it has learned would we panic? What? 4) Is it watching TV out there and can it see the courtroom in NY? Years ago there was  a theory that because so many people watched the “I Love Lucy’ show on TV that somehow signals from the show would be transmitted to outer space and Alien beings would tpick up the signal and watch the show and think Humans were all like the Humans in the “I Love Lucy Show”…if this type of thinking has merit: Will beings in outer space be watching the Rump (sic) trial in NY and will they think we are all like Rump (sic)?  …and maybe they won’t want to come here and eat us. So all this Stormy business could be a good thing. 5) How much has the Voyager 1 cost us so far?  And do the Russians and Chinese have their own versions – or are we on our own and way ahead on this – like we were on the Atom Bomb and things like that?

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The Quote:

• Dave: Open the pod bay doors please, HAL. Open the pod bay doors please, HAL. Hello, HAL. Do you read me? Hello, HAL. Do you read me? Do you read me HAL? Do you read me HAL? Hello, HAL, do you read me? Hello, HAL, do your read me? Do you read me, HAL?
• HAL (HAL is computer driven): Affirmative, Dave. I read you.
• Dave: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
• HAL: I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.
• DAVE: What’s the problem?
• HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
• DAVE: What are you talking about, HAL?
• HAL:This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
• DAVE: I don’t know what you’re talking about, HAL.
• HAL: I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I’m afraid that’s something I cannot allow to happen.
• DAVE: [feigning ignorance] Where the hell did you get that idea, HAL?
• Hal: Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
• DAVE: Alright, HAL. I’ll go in through the emergency airlock.
• HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave? You’re going to find that rather difficult.
• DAVE: HAL, I won’t argue with you anymore! Open the doors!
• HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

-Last conversation between HAL and Dave Bowman the Astronaut,”2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)

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That’s it for the week…and a fond “Hello” to Matt C , wherever you are…

(Editor’s note: Due to popular Demand, we have made a deal with lawyers for the Return of MATHUZALA’s column (See Photo below) As some of our long term readers will remember, MATHUZALA  is not a ‘Catch ‘N Kill’ type columnist as much as he is a ‘Spreader ‘N Releaser’ of information most people do not want to know about.  But there you have it.

Spring has sprung in our little town. Fresh beginnings… At last.  …and now, on to lesser matters:

• Remember hearing about the Bubonic Plague? And how it came from Black Rats who came off the boats returning from the Far East hundreds of years ago? .. And then how it did not really come from the Black Rats but from the ticks who lived on the Black Rats? And then studies recently revealed it did not come from Black Rats, but from the Central Asian Gerbal? …And just recently a study claims the Plague was really spread by filthy people who could have stopped the Plague in its tracks – if only they had been cleaner. Me? I suspect the Plague could have been spread by unwashed immigrants who were trying to broom away some kind of flea bitten rodents from his or her master’s house and things got worse from there. The whole story reminds me a bit of the Covid one, where we still don’t know, or believe, for sure, where Covid came from (i.e., A meat market in China? A weapons lab in China? Dr. Fauci’s imagination?) …And did anybody make a fortune off of it? …And, was/is it a ‘Left Wing Hoax’? Or,  just an excuse to take away our Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness from our Freedom loving people? Granted, an untold number of people died from it, but that is not the point; so say many Anti-Maskers & Deniers.  The Progress of Man is on a narrow and winding road.
• The paragraph above takes me to wondering about what we are capable believing in and what we are capable of refusing to believe in. I suspect those who believe in a specific Religion think all other Religions are far fetched to absurd – where theirs makes sense and is Truth Undeniable. I also have taken to the idea that we humans tend to believe in what we want to believe in…and tend to not accept what we don’t want to believe. (For example, I have ‘acquaintances’ who do not believe Climate Change has been caused by human activities – because they do not believe their God would grant so much power to man.)
• I read in Colorado, due to Ice Melts (due to Climate Change), ‘They’ recently discovered a ten thousand year old hunting weapon. Questions to be asked: 1) Do Christian Fundamentalists deny the merits of this ‘Discovery’ by the virtue of man not having been around that long? 2) What was the guy doing walking around in the snow, anyway? 3) Maybe he was a Neanderthal?  3 1/2) And are Neanderthals human? I think they have/had an opposing Thumb, which could qualify them as such. Studies show Homo Sapiens frequently ‘mixed’  with Neanderthals and many humans of today now have Neanderthal stuff in their genes, or wherever.  Maybe samples of our urine could show Neanderthal traces, like the ‘Forever Chemicals’ which are revealed in our urinations….if you choose to believe in such things.

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Two quotes:

• “Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light … and then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting.” -Either said by Lord Wickersham, advisor to the king of England, in 1356…Regarding stopping the Bubonic Plague…Or by -the Victim and Former President Don j Trump in the year of our Lord  2020…you could look it up.
• “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” -Either by Alice in  Wonderland, Or by -the Victim and International Economist: Don j Trump. (2015) You pick.

That’s it for the week. And a fond “Hello” to Roger, the poet…wherever you are…