Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

   The Fourth of July is a day of gatherings and judging by the number of and duration of the explosions of fireworks there were some quite large gatherings. The totally celebratory events get some coverage, the ones that have a shooting or multiple shootings are the ones that get the attention.

   All the world watches as we kill one another off one block party at a time. They wonder why we would choose to have laws that require school children to have to be put through live shooter exercises to prepare for the event that could come on any day in their school. They wonder why we have a former President that has caused an insurrection and continues to call upon his followers to create problems for the rest of our society, and he has not been jailed, or as in some countries, taken out and shot. 

   He has not gone to trial yet, but daily he is being tried by society and history. His legacy will not be written by him so he will not appear as the noble, brave and true leader that he fancies himself to be. Rather he will be found to be very unsavory and instead of featuring his picture to replace George Washington his image will better serve to replace Mussolini hanging upside down next to his mistress.

   The United States was founded to be a just country. We do not conduct purges as Stalin did. We do not create and environment where your belief would require you to go to elaborate measures like building priest holes as the Catholics did under King Henry VIII. We were not founded that way and yet members of our congress today would gladly pursue those tactics if they could muster enough power to put Trump back in power. 

   The raping of women’s health rights and putting it in the hands of your neighbors to spy on you and turn you in for profit if you violate one of the many punitive laws enacted. Neighbors spying on neighbors is the method that was used to keep track of the East Berliners, and the more radical in the Soviet Union. Those type of rules plus open carry laws for weapons might be a great way to reduce the surplus population, for the Red states I am sure that they are hoping that it is the folks that voted Blue that end up as the targets for this benevolent law.

 Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

 Here is a question for you. What are you going to do when they announce the end of the world? For some that will be when Trump doesn’t get reelected for others it will be because something important happened, like getting hit by a meteor.  

   If you are like the NCO I had near me in Desert Shield Desert Storm when they told us the air war had started, he sat on his cot, read his bible and cried the rest of the night. Since the air war did not require any effort from me I went back to sleep. 

   So the question is should that kind of thing be made public information or should we keep that kind of information confidential until all hope is lost in trying to stop it from happening? If the public is informed are people going to go to work and keep the lights on? Will panic occur and people go out and do things that they would not normally do? Keeping the status quo may be a terrible lie for the government to tell the public but if a last minute save happens it would not be necessary to re establish the grid, If nothing saves the situation then it will make no difference anyway.

    If you knew in advance what kind of things you would do, make sure those you love know you love them. Would go out and get drunk, get laid as often as possible, eat yourself sick or spend your time on your knees praying for some intervention. 

    We all have different ways of dealing with crises and the news of total destruction would probably bring some really outlandish reactions.  We have people that have built elaborate facilities to survive the most terrible things that man can throw at man. I don’t believe those efforts will help if total destruction is the outcome.

  Are our efforts to pollute helping to weaken the systems such as the ozone layer to offer protection of a natural type? Has our development of rockets and explosives been advanced enough to protect us from everything except the loss of our sun?  

    These are questions of total destruction not personal loss so in order to wrap your head around this problem take a much broader view of the term loss. We may have developed technologies that have a good chance of accomplishing the task of saving earth but at what cost. Will our technology work after that effort has been expended? Are enough of us versed in how to survive to make the effort to save the earth worthwhile? All valid questions and concerns the real answer is when we either do or don’t survive and prosper.

(Feel free to rely with any comments)

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

I was driving this morning and the GPS on my phone was seriously lagging behind where I actually was, and I found myself getting angry and impatient with the technology.

Why am I telling anyone reading this about my morning navigation issue… well it got me thinking about how since with advances in Technology we have become quicker to respond with anger and frustration over something that 10 years ago would not have even been a concern. In the early 2000s when it came to navigation you used a map or printed google maps directions, which usually got you lost, but we didn’t rely on technology to hold our hand all the way through the process. I can still read a map, but I have become more and more dependent on GPS technology to get me to unfamiliar destinations.

It seems that every advance has made us more impatient and ignorant of how to do things that to previous generations found to be commonplace task.

I am old enough to remember not having a microwave… In the summer when I was little, I loved Spaghetti O’s with meatballs, would go to the corner store and buy a can come home and cook them in a pot on the stove. It really wasn’t a task that I found out of the ordinary, my son if it isn’t fast food or something he can heat up in the microwave it’s too much effort. Just that little step of heating something up on the stove or pushing a few buttons has made a generation too lazy and impatient to accomplish even minor tasks.

I am all for technology and the ways it has helped make things more convenient, but I am afraid that it is also breeding complacency, ignorance and impatience.

Has anyone seen the Disney animated movie Wallie? In the film man has had to leave earth and been on board star ships for a long time and hadn’t had to use their legs for mobility, the people had become so dependent on floating chairs that they couldn’t walk on their own. I don’t see us getting to that level of dependence on technology but sadly in other aspects I do see the reliance on machines and computers becoming and global addiction.  

I am not the only person that feels that this is the direction our species is going… here is one UK study that sums it up.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/technology-is-making-us-more-impatient-says-study/

Thank again for your reading my Ted Talk (LOL)

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

There are a couple of stories in the news since July 4^th, some well one that is getting all the Red Hat press but let’s talk about the stories that are being sidelined.

One that’s not getting much mention in the press is the record amount of gun violence over the Independence Day holiday. According to CBS News; ‘Gun violence spiked over Fourth of July weekend, with shootings reported in nearly every U.S. state that killed a total of at least 220 people and wounded close to 570 others, according to the Gun Violence Archive.’ Has anyone heard about this? No, just another fucked up day of shooting in the war zone we call America.

Then there is a neglected story that is affecting the entire planet.

 Earth’s Hottest Days on Record Were July 3-5

A chart shows daily average air temperatures worldwide for each day since 1979 and ends on July 5, 2023. On Tuesday, global average temperatures rose to a new high of 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit. I can already hear it, “Big deal 63°isn’t a big deal!” But I am sure you’re not reading the entire statement (global average temperatures) that include areas in the southern hemisphere that are currently in their winter season. Regardless of whether 2023 ends up the hottest ever recorded, scientists caution that the escalating impacts of the climate crisis are now starkly evident and will not be slowed until greenhouse gas emissions are radically cut.

Again, not in the Mainstream Media headlines.

The big news is that Cocaine was found in the White House… and we all know the rumor mill is going crazy over that. I guess now the Republicons will accuse Joe Biden of being on drugs or that he is having COKE parties in the Presidential Residence with the GOPs favorite punching bag Hunter and surely Hilary will be included for good measure.

The GOP is still crying about gas stoves and decrying that EVs will destroy the American auto industry, they are trying to block the Biden administration from utilization of social media on some 1^st amendment nonsense.

After the Supreme Court slapped down affirmative action in college applications for minorities, now groups are bringing lawsuits to block scholarships for minority applicants. Sorry, that’s in the ‘not in the’ news category.

I am imploring people to wake up, check your sources, and fucking pay attention. You’re hearing that the economy is in tatters… not true. You’re being told that America is not longer respected on the world stage… NOT TRUE. You are being fed that affirmative action in is self is ‘racist’ and the there is no racism in this country… ask George Floyd, Travon Martin, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, oh you can’t because they are all dead and this a short list, NO RACISM complete bull shit and affirmative action did only a little to level to playing field.

Again I apologize for getting on my soapbox but if there is only one person that is listening and takes this to heart then I feel that I am doing something.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Let’s get into name calling about economic plans from both parties, and what they actually accomplished.

The latest slur from the GOP is Bidenomics to Republicans, “Bidenomics” is a slur they can deploy. It’s a philosophy of government spending and anti-oil policies that they say fueled a spike in inflation last summer to a four-decade high. But is the current economic plan doing all the harm that the Republicans are crying about?

Bidenomics—is rooted in the recognition that the best way to grow the economy is from the middle out and the bottom up. It’s an economic vision centered around three key pillars:

• Making smart public investments in America
• Empowering and educating workers to grow the middle class.
• Promoting competition to lower costs and help entrepreneurs and small businesses thrive.

The current administration was handed an economy that was in free fall after COVID19 and poor management of the previous administration. Many Republicans want the public to believe that the U.S. economy is a disaster although many economists agree that the U.S. is, for now, not in a recession. The most recent gross domestic product report published last week showed the U.S. economy grew by 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022, following growth of 3.2% in the quarter before. In fact, the U.S. financial picture looks far better than all other G7 nations.  The United States has, by far, the largest gross domestic product (GDP) of the G7 countries. Moreover, while the GDP of the other six countries fluctuated between 2000 and 2022, the U.S.’ grew almost constantly, reaching an estimated 25 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022.

So based on these numbers and unemployment being a record low, it appears that the GOP slur of Bidenomics is completely invalid.

For those of us that lived through the 1980’s you will remember the phrase Reaganomics. The pillars of Reagan’s economic policy included increasing defense spending, balancing the federal budget and slowing the growth of government spending, reducing the federal income tax and capital gains tax, reducing government regulation, and tightening the money supply in order to reduce inflation.

What the plan actually did was deregulate industries and cut taxes for the wealthy, “If the wealthy receive tax cuts it will benefit everyone,” was what we were all led to believe. Cutbacks in income transfers during the Reagan years helped increase both poverty and inequality. Changes in tax policy helped increase inequality but reduced poverty. These policy shifts are not the only reasons for the lack of progress against poverty and the rise in inequality.

The results of Reaganomics are still debated. Supporters point to the end of stagflation, stronger GDP growth, and an entrepreneurial revolution in the decades that followed. Critics point to the widening income gap, what they described as an atmosphere of greed, reduced economic mobility, and the national debt tripling in eight years which ultimately reversed the post-World War II trend of a shrinking national debt as percentage of GDP.

Historically the debt has gone up under Republican Administrations since after Eisenhower and no Republican President has balanced a budget. Their policy of tax cuts for the top of the economic scale has always led to budget shortfalls. The GOP solution is to cut spending on social programs at affect more people than their tax cuts benefit. They also compare the national budget to a household budget a by saying that the best way to save is to cut services while continuing to spend no thought of increasing revenue. Sorry that shit don’t work!!!

I, just like President Biden, am taking Bidenomics as a complement and moving forward with it. This administration is proving that bottom up, middle out method of economic growth actually works. Reaganomics, piss on the poor and tell them it raining, system has put us in the economic predicament we are in, time to throw it out.

Thanks for suffering through another rant.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

  The Fourth of July 2023, nice and peaceful this morning, it will change by tonight. Our nation is 247 years old, a meer baby compared to others. We have done some great things during those years. The establishment of a Constitutional government and the good fortune to come together to overcome some very tenuous events.

   Not all of our efforts have been benevolent to all that were present at the time. Remarkably most of our populace has come together at the more critical times to allow us to have the resources to overcome the more difficult events and allow us to best our rivals. We have been able to write history.

    Having that ability does not give us the right to change history to suit the whims of a few people that wish to suppress truth just to elevate one facet or subjugate another. We are the results of all of history whether that is the good fortune to have a group like the founding fathers to write our Constitution or the fact that some of our citizens held slaves or that our greed for land allowed the slaughter of those that were living on the land we wanted.

    There has been a movement to cut some people from the history books as their contribution seems unimportant to someone else at this moment in time. Do we pick the importance by which state they lived in, by what they accomplished or deed they did to make themselves known? 

   Take two women that had lives that were watched and written about, photographed and even celebrated in song by the same artist. One made movies and had her picture taken in the nude, the other wed a prince and became very famous for being very human and helping people and ending her life in a car crash. Their contributions were different yet celebrated for having made those contributions. One’s contribution has not yet fulfilled his future as one day he will be King.

   Many people make significant contributions to things that are pretty mundane to the average person on the street but they have an impact within the realm of what kind of business or enterprise that person works in.

   Shall we take out the people that did terrible things, Billy the Kid or Ted Bundy? Do we select those that had careers that were considered vulgar by some, Benny Hill or George Carlin how about Marilyn Chambers. They all have had an impact of some sort and their lives were important in ways not all can understand, but worth celebrating regardless of what kind of press they may have received.

    Do we really know what or who is not important enough not to included in history at some level? Not all needs to be known by all but at some point some little bit of information might make all the difference to someone. The number of things we guess at because we have no history to study is huge. The pyramids both in Egypt and central America, the mounds in the Mississippi valley.  Are they manmade or did these things get built by beings from outer space?

   We are all in the dark because we don’t have any written history. If we knew would it make these things mundane rather than exciting or interesting? Curiosity is what drives our train most of the time and what would life be without a puzzle?

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

   There is a time in our lives that every other person we see is yet another being that we are happy to see and willing to meet. For most it does not last long as we go with our parents and learn from them and those, they associate with how to respond to all those other beings.

   If the association is a religious one, then the teachings and preachings are the guidance that is learned. If the message is all inclusive, then there is a better chance for tolerance to be taught. If the message is that you must believe or go to hell, or that this group or that one is inferior and unacceptable then what message and what attitude are being conveyed? 

   Drugs, sex and rock and roll were the tune at a certain period in our history which was a direct rebellion of the straight-laced attitude of many of our parents. They grew up in the era of ‘the depression’ and lived accordingly, their parents were the product of the roaring twenties, do we see a pattern here? We keep going from one end of the extreme to the other and we have entered the phase where intolerance is at the forefront of religion, politics, and social attitude. 

   The political atmosphere is to elevate one group and pretty much screw over everyone else. The rich should not have to pay for social programs, schools, medical treatment, roads, or anything else. They pulled themselves up ‘by there own’ why can’t everyone else? The idea that it is okay for same sex marriage and all that, that is not condoned in my book so it is wrong. Don’t you dare teach anything about my race that is derogatory, we are perfect and to exalted above all others and I will force that message at every turn.

    The thing is the next generation will revolt against this punitive restrictive nonsense and be back with drugs, sex and rock and roll. Regardless of the number of oppressive individuals that get the spotlight we will have someone that will gleefully break that bubble and show the world just how much crap there is inside.

    Change is a constant, and it seems that the more repressive the parent the more rebellious the child. One generation has a view on a subject that is very likely not held by the next generation. The story of the older lady that asked to share the table of a younger woman at a sidewalk cafe, The younger woman is finishing her lunch and invites the older lady to sit down. As the younger woman finishes, she takes a cigarette from her purse and says “mind if I smoke” the older lady replies that she would rather commit adultery than smoke. The younger woman’s reply is “So would I but I only have a half hour for lunch”.

     Fortunately, the book burners and racial superiority jackasses do not last as long as they hope they will, but some of them leave a real mess behind when they finally get the boot. The world went to war to get rid of Hitler, let’s hope we don’t have to go to war to rid the world of the current dictator of Florida.

    The way our government is set up we should have a balance of power, at least someone to say this or that is getting out of hand. This does not seem to be the case in a couple of states, there is no one to voice an opposing view. Women’s health rights have taken a hit, voting has taken a hit and immigration might as well be a dirty word. These states are run by one party and no one knows where the brake pedal is.

    On top of all the other crap we have some of the dumbest people in positions of responsibility. Can anyone in their right mind see Kevin McCarthy filling the President’s chair, did not think so. Why would we need to worry about that, he is third in line to take power if anything happens to the President or Vice President and with the call to arms that is currently a trend it could happen. The lead in the Senate is no better. Working for the good of the nation has never occurred to these people and won’t any time soon.

   At this point in history maybe we need to be more like the monkeys that have sex to calm everyone down. It is a public service and is a commendable act to keep the peace, while getting a piece. 

   If we get totally honest then we realize that most everything we do as a species is about sex. We have the guys that are jocks that impress, and they are rewarded with money and fame, and sex. There are men in politics to get money, power and sex. Some are very astute about their conquests and others are not so much, as a Prince that had a Princess but gave her up for the upstairs maid.